Kage No Naka : In The Shadows
by Aoikami Sarah
Summary: As Naruto prepares to become Rokudaime, he gets a little help from the Shadows in this story about the Spirit World of the Fire Country.
1. Default Chapter

Ho no Kuni Monogatari:"Kage no Naka"  
Fire Country Stories: "In the Shadows"

By Aoi Kami Sarah

_I've given characters in Naruto who have not been named by Kishimoto-sensei names of characters from Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikokku just to have something to call them. These are NOT their real names in Naruto. The characters called Yotsuya and Kozue are property of Aoi Kami Sarah -aks_

"It's really annoying how the living go around like they know what they hell they're doing..." - Shinigami Yotsuya

---

One typically sunny afternoon in the Hidden Leaf Village, Tsunade tapped her foot and made a face. "Well?"

Naruto tried to close his mouth. "I…"

"This is what you've always wanted, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but…!"

"But what?"

He tried to calm his racing heart. "Am I really good enough to be Hokage?"

-----

That night Uzumaki Naruto looked down from his perch, high atop the Hokage monument. Fifteen years ago he was caught painting graffiti over the faces of the town elders. Usually, this memory brought a smile to his face. Today, Naruto frowned and rested his head on his folded arms and recalled Tsunade's yelling at him.

-----

"Whaddaya mean, 'good enough'!" Godaime shouted at him. "Ok. Who are you and what have you done with Naruto? How many freaking years have you been badgering me to get out office so you can take over, huh? And all of a sudden it's 'I'm not good enough?!" Tsunade's face was red and looking a little older than usual these days. She was tired, and now she had a headache.

Naruto hung his head a little. "I know. Just for some reason I never thought anyone would take me seriously."

"Naruto," she said softly. "As much as it might surprise you, we all take you very seriously. The council and I would like you to succeed me. Please. At least take the test. You can decide if you want the position later." She tilted her head to one side and looked up into his deep blue eyes.

"Ok…"

"There's a good boy. The oral will be a week from tomorrow."

Naruto turned white. "Oral?!"

Tsunade balled her fists. "The oral exam. It's not written, you answer verbally."

"Oh! Hahahahaha I'm fucked." His brows pinched together in the middle.

Tsunade put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't stress. It'll be hard, but you'll do just fine." As Naruto turned to go, Tsunade followed him to the door. "Oh, by the way, there's a meeting in the inner chambers tomorrow morning at dawn. You don't know anything about it but you _will_ be there." The seriousness on Tsunade's face made him shiver.

An ultra-classified meeting was not something to be taken lightly. "Understood, Godaime-sama," he replied and let himself out.

-----

Naruto sighed again and watched the sun sink into the horizon. He decided to take his time going home. As he strolled through the streets of Konoha, lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice much of what was going on around him. The second time his name was called he finally stopped to answer.

"Ah! Hyuuga-san!" he replied, startled by the head of the Hyuuga household and his entourage. "How nice to see you." Naruto parroted through his teeth.

"Save it, Uzumaki." Hiashi flashed a copy of the evening news. "I see you're moving up in the world." Naruto's name was splashed across the headlines.

"Wa! Already?!" Naruto grabbed the paper away from him and read the words quickly. 'Jounin Uzumaki picked for 6th.' "Oh man…" he groaned softly.

"I suppose you're happy," Hiashi grumbled. "Once you are Hokage you can meddle with the glorious traditions that families such as ours have held sacred for generations."

A grin slowly spread across Naruto's face. "Oh yeah. There's that, too. Thanks for reminding me! Oh, hey. Look at the time! I gotta run. Hinata will be sad if I'm late. See ya!" Naruto turned and without excusing himself, started walking away.

"If you think for one moment the people of this village will accept YOU as their leader you've got another thing coming." Hiashi muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

Although Naruto kept the spring in his step as he disappeared down the road, his brows knitted together and Hiashi's words did their damage.

-----

At dawn Naruto slipped into the Hokage's chambers and found that Tsunade and the two elderly council members Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were waiting for him. Each was seated around the crystal ball with which the Hokage used to observe the goings-on around Konoha.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Koharu began. "You have been selected to follow in a great tradition of honor and service; you have been chosen to be the next Hokage. You will endure three tests. The first will begin momentarily." Naruto swallowed but said nothing. "The second will be an oral exam to test your knowledge and intelligence. The third will be a test of skill in combat. The second and third tests are merely formality and for show. You see, the general public knows nothing of this first test."

Homura picked up. "Anything done or said here this morning may never leave this room. If you ever need to discuss the things that will be done or said, you may approach the council members or previous Hokage _only_ and say you need to talk 'about what it means to be Hokage'. We will then meet as we are meeting now and you will be free to talk on the subject. We will now begin the first test."

Naruto looked to Tsunade again but her eyes were trained on the crystal ball.

Koharu extended her wrinkled hand and placed it over the orb. The usually pinkish milky color turned violently purple then completely black. When she removed it, the ball returned to normal. Homura then did the same with the same result. Tsunade then extended her hand and rather than turning black it swirled with bright red flames. They looked to Naruto and bid him do the same. He took a deep breath and without hesitation stuck his hand out. To no one's surprise the ball turned red immediately. The elders relaxed noticeably and Tsunade beamed.

"I'm betting that means I passed," Naruto said with a measure of relief.

"Indeed it does," the old man replied. "Only those whose souls are prepared to take on the role of Shadow can make the crystal react that way." He looked to Tsunade who took a deep breath.

"Naruto," she began. "Being Hokage doesn't end when your life is over. When one accepts the job of leading the Fire Country, he or she agrees to help while living, and in the Spirit World as well." Naruto raised a brow and looked to all the eyes in the room to see if they were trying to pull his leg. "No one knows what happens after a soul leaves the world of the living, but we few do know that there is a Spirit World that exists between this world and the next, and that the Shadows of each country go on to protect the spiritual side of things after they die. Is this acceptable, Naruto? Do you still wish to become Hokage?"

They allowed him to take a moment to think. He folded his arms and bit the inside of his lip. "There's a lot of strange stuff that goes on in this world, I don't doubt what you're saying is true. But, if it is true, then who's watching over the fire country right now? Sandaime sealed the First and the Second inside himself with the Fuuin Shiki and Yondaime is sealed inside me…"

"We have long considered that," Homura cleared his throat and shifted his weight. "And we have come to the conclusion that someone must be looking over us, for if there wasn't someone, the entire Spirit World would have been thrown into turmoil by now and even the living would have felt the repercussions of such a state."

"Good answer," Naruto mumbled. He unfolded his arms and put his hands on his folded knees. "There is no question. I still wish to become Hokage. I will do my best in life and after it to serve Konoha, the Fire Country and its shinobi for as long as I am able."

The elders smiled and Tsunade put her hand over his. "I'm really proud of you, Kiddo." Naruto gave them a small grin but the venomous words of Hyuuga Hiashi still hovered over his heart.

-----

Three of the seven scrolls Naruto brought home with him that afternoon rolled off the edge of the table and onto the floor as he set the load down. Hinata giggled. "Got enough homework?" she asked.

"Heheh… Too much." the young man answered. His brows came together as he picked the scrolls up and stacked them on top of each other. The expression wasn't lost on Hinata.

"Well before you get too far into it, would you like to have lunch?"

Naruto smiled that closed-eye smile of his at her. "You bet." She was the best girlfriend a hungry man could ever want. Lunch was huge. Onigiri, tamagoyaki, cold buckwheat noodles with sesame dressing and a towering pile of tiny cucumber and ham-salad sandwiches were all decimated by Naruto's incomparable appetite.

"Waaaaa that was gooood!" he cried as he patted his stomach. Hinata's smile turned to a light pout as she saw him get up and go straight for the scrolls.

"Naruto, the Hokage exam isn't for another week. You should pace yourself."

He hugged the scrolls to his chest using them as a shield to hide the real reason for his anxiety. "I know, but you know how bad I am at stuff like this. If I don't study my ass off I'll never pass the oral," he said, his back to her. "I can't fail."

"Surely Tsunade-sama will let you retake…" Hinata stopped herself. She'd had this argument with him before. His mind was made up. She started clearing the dishes. "Study hard, Anata."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," Naruto said as he went into the living room to start reading. "Shodaime," he read off the scroll's label. "Best place to start, at the beginning!"

By nightfall he was only a third of the way through the third scroll. Hinata rubbed his shoulders and looked over at the writing. "Sandaime, huh?" she asked. He nodded. "Almost done, then, right?" He shook his head and showed her the thick end of the scroll. She wilted.

"I got this one then there's that one," he said and pointed to the fourth scroll. "Don't have to study Godaime 'cause there's no publication about her yet and I think I know her term cold anyway."

"Naruto, you can't possibly stay up all night and read, none of it will stick!"

Naruto's foot twitched a little. "Yeah, I guess, but I'm not tired yet. I'll come to bed when I do. I promise."

Hinata knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with him when his mind was so set, so she gave him a kiss on the top of his blond mop and left him to his studies.

"Let's see here, Jiji," he addressed the late Third Hokage and delved back into the scroll. "In his fourth year as Hokage, Sarutobi was faced with…" He read for a few minutes, but once again his mind wandered. "These men all did such amazing things… They were smart and charismatic and everyone loved them." Naruto pouted and leaned back in his chair. "Not like me at all…"

Hands chased each other around the clock. Konoha was quiet and dark. Naruto's eyelids started to droop. He shook himself and leaned forward, trying to work against his body's will. "I gotta study as much as I can. I'm too dumb not to. Even if it's just for show, how am I ever gonna pass this thing? I gotta answer questions and stuff. And if I do it… if I become Hokage, can I _really_ do it? How will anyone believe I'm fit to lead them?" He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "Can I be as great as all of you?"

"Che…"

Naruto's blood ran cold. He looked up from the scroll to the piercing blue eyes of a man sort of half-sitting on the right hand corner of his desk twirling the scroll marked 'Yondaime' with his left hand.

"Who… who the…" Naruto stuttered.

The man was of average height. He had blond hair and wore very formal traditional-looking garments decorated with red flames. "Don't tell me you've got cold feet?" he drawled.

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, keep it down, it's the middle of the night!" the man yelled back.

"_You_ shut up! And get out of my house!"

"Baka yarou! I came here to…!" the man was cut off. He jerked forward as if he had just been struck upside the head.

"Anata!" a woman's voice cried angrily. "You are supposed to be _helping_ him!"

"K… Kozue-chan…" he held a hand to the back of his head and made a face. Naruto's eyes bulged as a wisp of smoke took a woman's form at the stranger's side. She was of average height, slight frame and even wearing a pout, her face was round and beautiful with moon-shaped green eyes, a small nose and a fine acute-angled triangle marking on either side of her rosy cheeks. Her hair was flaxen, pulled back into a tight bow. She wore a woman's business suit with knee length skirt and on the left arm of her jacket was an arm band decorated with a black and red flame insignia; the same that adorned her partner's robes.

The woman called Kozue clicked her tongue and folded her arms but the sour expression didn't last long. She smiled sweetly and relaxed. "Long time no see, Sweet Heart," she addressed Naruto who rubbed his eyes. Kozue laughed softly. "I tried to send him to help you out, but I see the two of you are more alike than I thought!"

"I've seen you before, on the other side of town…" Naruto squinted, his brain not able to tell if he was dreaming or there were really ghosts in his dining room. Years ago he had a dream he remembered from time to time. The young woman who materialized before him had been sitting by a pond in his dream. She wore a kimono then, and had called him 'sweetheart'. "Nee-chan…" Naruto whispered, remembering her smiling, crescent shaped eyes.

"She's not your Nee-chan," the man muttered. Kozue jabbed him slightly in the ribs and gave him a look. "Anyway. What's this about you having doubts? Isn't being Hokage what you've always wanted to do?"

"It's not that I don't want it anymore!" Naruto said, crossly. "There's still people who don't think I'm worth anything; Hinata's family especially. I've been on hundreds of successful missions and even pretty much saved this village at least once already and there are still people who only see _nine tails_ when they look at me." He looked up into the man's blue eyes. "I want to prove myself to all of them. I want them to look up to me. I want to be the one they rely on, not the one they fear."

The man straightened up, folded his arms and looked down on him. "Then what's the problem?" He set the scroll he'd been playing with down.

"I…" Naruto glanced and read the scroll's title again. "Yondaime," he addressed the man sitting on his desk. "I don't know if I can be as great as you."

Yondaime shot a glance at his wife. _'Does he know the connection?'_ his eyes asked.

_'No. Not yet,'_ her eyes replied.

"Heh," Yondaime grinned. "I was something else, wasn't I?" He gripped the lapels of his jacket ostentatiously.

"Anata!" Kozue scolded. "What Mr. Great Big Head here is _trying_ to say is…" She folded her arms and pouted. "You know, you haven't been helpful at all yet." Yondaime deflated. Kozue giggled. "I'll leave you boys alone for a while." With a breath she dispersed into the air.

"Nee-chan…" Naruto reached out at the air where she used to be. Yondaime pulled up a chair. Naruto blinked at him, still logy and tired. "Are you really Yondaime?"

"Yup. Don't worry. I'm still dead," he said with a small smile.

Naruto drooped. "Why are you talking to _me_ of all people? I don't deserve to speak to you. I took your life."

"Wrong," he said quickly. "I gave it to you. No, not just to you, to everyone in Konoha." He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. "You know, when I was chosen to be Hokage, I was astounded. I couldn't think how I could possibly fill Sandaime's shoes. He was such an amazing leader. If you've been selected to be the next Hokage, Naruto, a whole lot of people already recognize your greatness, whether _you_ do or not."

Naruto blushed a little. "Yeah." He thought of Iruka and Sakura and Kakashi, Lee and Neji and Kiba, Shikamaru and all the others that he called friend who had come to call him the same. "Yeah!"

"And don't you have some legislation you want to get through? You can't help the Hyuuga if you aren't Hokage."

Naruto nodded. "That Hiashi…" he muttered. "I've got to get his respect."

"That's the spirit!" Yondaime cheered.

"Hey, speaking of spirit…" Naruto leaned in. "If you're sealed inside me, how are you, you know, watching over us?"

Yondaime grinned. "It's a long story, but I'm doing both. You have your… eh… You have Kozue-chan to thank for that."

Kozue reappeared hastily at his side. "The Hyuuga, eh? I've heard something like that before…" she changed the subject and gave her husband a pinch. Yondaime stood and put his arm around her shoulders. She covered his hand with hers and looked up to him. "My family didn't think much of you until you got your title."

"Yare yare…" he muttered. "Sorry, Naruto. Our time is up."

"Yondaime-sama… Kozue-san, I…" Naruto tried to stand but suddenly felt very tired.

"Good luck, Naruto." Yondaime said and waved. Kozue smiled and waved as well and they both vanished like smoke from a dying candle. "We're very proud of you."

Naruto's head fell back and he snored just once before snapping to attention. "What? Where? When did…?" he asked the silence. The desk lamp was bright and made the white paper of the scroll seem to glow. He squinted and looked at the text. "What the heck is this…? Best Fire Country Soups? Musta got the wrong scroll…"

"Naruto…" Hinata walked into the room in her nightshirt, rubbing her left eye. "You're still awake?"

"Sorry, Hinata… I'm…" he looked down at the scrolls and changed his mind. "I'm coming." He turned out the light, paused for a moment to look at a chair that was out of place and followed her to bed. Naruto slept deeply, but his dreams were as vivid as if they were on the silver screen.

-----

Twenty years earlier Konoha was ravaged by the disaster that changed Naruto's life and sealed his future. The cries of the great beast echoed in the empty streets. Most of Konoha's inhabitants had fled to the emergency shelters within the palisades or were out fighting in vain. Their leader was at the hospital, which would soon be beyond full of wounded shinobi.

Yondaime Hokage clutched his wife Kozue's pale white hand as her life slipped away.

"Save the village," she whispered. "I know you can do it,"

-----

Almost ten years before that, Kozue was walking out of a small green grocer she liked to frequent when she tripped on a loose stone and fell. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that she wouldn't break anything. Rather than put her hands out, she clutched the bags to herself and braced for impact. When she didn't crash to the ground Kozue blinked and looked around, only to find a young man's arms around her.

"Are you ok?" he asked urgently but gently and helped her stand. He quickly collected the apples and artichokes that had fallen out of the bags and stuffed them back in.

"I… I…" she stuttered. 'If anyone from the house finds out I fell I'll never get to go out again!' she thought and looked up at her savior. He was almost six feet tall, had blond spiky hair and unbelievably blue eyes, which made him stand out regardless of his typical green and blue Jounin attire. Kozue held her breath. 'He's an angel!' she thought. 'But I can't be seen being rescued! What will Haha-ue say?!' "I'm sorry!" she cried and blushed, her pale green eyes sparkling and scampered away. The young man was dazed. He watched her go and cursed softly to himself for not asking her her name.

"Shit what?" a growling sort of voice behind him asked.

"Sensei!" he cried, surprised. "Who is that girl?"

"Ohhhhhh," he mused and rubbed his chin. "THAT girl… yes… I don't know about that one, Yusaku," he said apprehensively.

"Jiraiya-sensei," the Jounin called Yusaku whined. "I didn't ask you to undress her with your eyes, I just want to know if you know her name."

Jiraiya laughed and clapped his student on the back so hard he stumbled. "Don't worry. I saw that lovey-dovey look in your eyes. I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing to such a sweet creature. I do have _some_ honor you know."

"Yeah right. Come off it, who is she?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and looked off in the direction she had left in. "Her name is Kozue. She's of a prestigious if not aristocratic shinobi family related to the first and second Hokage if I recall. They've got a huge house over by the Uchiha complex somewhere…"

"Thanks Sensei!"

Hey!" he called as Yusaku trotted off after Kozue. "Ah well, he'll find out soon enough about that girl."  
  
To be continued...


	2. Chapter Two

Ho no Kuni Monogatari:"Kage no Naka"  
Fire Country Stories: "In the Shadows"

By Aoi Kami Sarah

CHAPTER TWO

Yusaku ran past the main gate at the Uchiha complex and stopped an older woman for directions. She seemed confused that he didn't know the family name he was looking for, but Jiraiya's description led him to the right place.

The name "Sakai" was emblazoned in gold above the entrance and a servant/guard greeted Yusaku at the door. Because he was a Jounin and an incredibly charismatic one at that, he was allowed to enter and wait for an audience with head of the Sakai family. He sat on his knees in the waiting room on the highest quality tatami mats he'd ever seen. All around him, the subtle glimmer of wealth glistened. He took a deep breath and tried to think of what he would say and realized that he could hear what was being said in the room he was waiting to be admitted to.

"…If this sort of thing can happen I cannot allow you to go outside the grounds again."

"Haha-ue!"1 a young crystalline voice pleaded with her mother.

"I mean it Kozue-chan! You could have been seriously hurt from a fall like that!"

'Seriously hurt?' Yusaku wondered.

"I know… but if I can't be free to come and go as I please and do things on my own…"

"Then what?" her mother asked sternly. There was a pause. "Kozue-chan," the older woman's voice pleaded back. "We only want the best for you and with your condition we must be sure you are safe!"

"I know."

"Is this matter settled?" she asked softly.

"Yes…"

"There's my girl. If you want to leave the house, you will take an escort."

"Yes, Haha-ue."

After a few moments Yusaku was shown in. Much to his disappointment the girl was gone. Her mother was seated before a calligraphy table at which she seemed to be writing a letter. Her kimono was gold and red and ornate, unlike the simple pale purple Kozue wore. Her hair was a soft brown and pinned up with jade sticks. She looked up from her work through half-lidded unconcerned eyes. "How can I help you, Yusaku was it?"

"Yes Ma'am. I was downtown today and had the good fortune to be nearby when a member of your house lost her footing coming out of the grocery store."

Mrs. Sakai put the brush down, interest lighting her eyes. "Oh?"

"Yes Ma'am. It seems that such a delicate creature as your… daughter? You have the same exquisite features, I can only assume…"

"Indeed that was my Kozue," Mrs. Sakai answered a smile curling her lips.

"Such a precious person should have someone to look after her on her travels, carry her groceries and such, don't you think?" he asked, his charm warming the older woman.

"And just what are you proposing, young man?"

"Oh! Nothing so serious, Ma'am. I am simply offering a solution: hire a ninja."

Mrs. Sakai's face fell a little. "You _do_ know what family you are talking about, don't you?"

"Only one of the most prestigious shinobi families in Konoha," he repeated his sensei's words. "And a busy one at that, I'm sure. There are plenty of other ninja who could offer their services on a D-rank mission to escort your precious daughter wherever she should choose to go."

"Just any Genin will not do for such a task," she added spitefully.

"Of course not!" he agreed. "Only a Jounin would be close to sufficient. I would even offer myself for such a pleasurable mission."

There. He said it. Mrs. Sakai leaned back and took a slow breath. She held his bright blue eyes in her gaze and scoffed. "Very well young man, I will see Sandaime this afternoon about a contract."

He tried to contain his elation but couldn't help a bright smile, which to his surprise was returned. "I won't let you down," he said.

-----

Kozue pouted as she waited at the door a week later. It was raining lightly but steadily. She wore tall geta to avoid the mud and a grayish blue kimono.

"Oujo-sama," a servant approached her. "Your escort is here."

"All right," she said with a sigh and turned around. A blush rose to her cheeks and she raised her hand to her mouth to try to hide her shock. 'It's that man who caught me! He's a Genin?!' she wondered.

"At your service, Oujo-sama," Yusaku said with a bow. He had a large green umbrella with him that he opened for her.

"Uh… Thank you!" Kozue chimed and allowed him to lead her to the market. 'Perhaps he's slow-minded or something, that must be why he's still just a Genin…' she thought as they made their way through the rain. 'But why would Konoha let someone of poor faculties be a shinobi? No, that can't be it. He's at least a Chuunin. But how did he get this mission?' She was thinking so hard that she hardly noticed they had stopped.

"Oujo-sama?" Yusaku asked. "We're here. Which store did you want to visit first?" His smile seemed to shine down on her in lieu of actual sunshine. She directed him to the green grocer. Inside, Kozue bought leeks, bok choy, onions and numerous other vegetables.

Yusaku made casual conversation, trying hard not to seem as intensely interested in her as he was. He discovered that she not only loved to cook, she also sang and played the shamisen.

"Wow, really?" he asked. 'I have zero talent when it comes to music.'

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true."

"Shall I hum you a few bars to prove it? I assure you it's close to the least pleasurable aural experience you'll ever have next to nails on a chalk board or cats in heat."

She brought her hand up to her mouth as she laughed. 'Well, he's definitely not slow…' she thought. Yusaku opened the umbrella and lead her to the next store.

All too suddenly they were at her door. A Sakai servant who seemed irritated that Yusaku was allowed to perform such an enjoyable task for his mistress took the bags of groceries from him. "Perhaps I'll see you next week, Oujo-sama," Yusaku said and bowed.

"I'd like that," she said with a smile. He tried hard not to click his heels together as he walked away.

-----

Although Yusaku was always busy on A and B rank missions he made sure he had time to take one D rank a week.

A half a year passed like that and fall came. After the shops, they sat down on a bench under the shade of a tree with golden leaves. After a comfortable silence, both spoke the other's name at the same time. Yusaku urged her to go first.

"Yusaku-san." Kozue pushed a strand of flaxen hair behind her ear. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yes?" he asked, anxiously.

"All this time, you've never commented on my infirmity. I wonder if you know anything of it?"

He swallowed and shook his head. "No, I don't. I assume that whatever it is, it's not terminal, else your…" he struggled for the most tactful word, "_protective_ mother would have informed me of it."

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm not dying. I'm just frail." She bowed her head and rubbed her hands in her lap. "My heart is small. It doesn't pump blood very well so the rest of my body suffers. Sometimes it can cause me to lose consciousness. All the women in our family have been amazing kunoichi, you may have heard of my cousin, Tsunade…?"

Yusaku's eyes widened. "The same Tsunade who's one of the legendary Sannin?"

She nodded. My mother and her father were siblings: the children of Nidaime Hokage-sama. When I was a little, my family was very disappointed in me because it was obvious that I'd never be as great as my older cousin. I was pulled out of the academy after the first day because I passed out during our exercises. I decided then that if I couldn't be useful as a kunoichi that I would be the best woman I could be in other ways. I took music lessons and learned to cook and I was very lucky to be good at it." She rubbed her hands together. "I'm sorry. I'm talking too much"

"No, no. I'm glad to hear you're not in any danger," he said simply.

"Please, Yusaku-san. What was it you wanted to say to me?"

Yusaku took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I'd like to see you." She blinked at him in wonder. "These missions have been wonderful, and I'd like to continue to serve you, but I'd like to see you seriously. That is, if you'd like to see me."

"Yusaku-san…" Her radiant smile faded. "I can't."

He sat up straighter and pursed his lips into a small frown, a gesture she knew to mean he was thinking. Not finding his question answered, he asked again. "Do you want to see me?"

"I do!..."

"You're worried about your family."

Kozue stood up and walked a few paces away. "My mother has been parading Konoha's most eligible bachelors through our home for a year now trying to find the 'right' man for me. None of them have ever met me before but they always profess their love for me and tell me that I'm right for _them_!" she said with a small stamp of her foot. "Yusaku-san, you are the first man who's tried to get to know me, who's listened to me… To me, you are the 'right' man. To my mother…" she turned and sighed. "You're not even on the map."

He stood and held out his hands. Hesitantly, Kozue put her small white hands in his. "I will ask your mother if I may see you."

-----

The next week, after Kozue waited for an hour for Yusaku to arrive, she barged in to her mother's parlor and demanded to know where her escort was.

"Kozue-chan, I'm very busy at the moment," Mrs. Sakai indicated to Sandaime Hokage seated to her left, who paused in lifting a teacup to his lips.

"Did you fire my escort?" she repeated.

"Yes. I did. That must have been last week? He had the audacity to ask to court you. Can you imagine, Sandaime-sama? This boy thought he could sneak his way into this family! Perhaps if he'd been of a notable family he would have been more skillful in his attempts!" Mrs. Sakai chuckled at her pun. The third Hokage simply hummed. He watched Kozue carefully.

"Did you think to ask if I wanted him to court me?"

Mrs. Sakai bit the inside of her lip in frustration. "Kozue-chan I am only ever looking out for your best interests…"

"Without ever asking me what I'm interested in!" she cried, her face turning red with anger. "I care for Yusaku-san very much!" Sandaime raised a brow, but kept his lips on his teacup.

"Kozue he's _no one_, he can't possibly…"

"That's all you care about!" Kozue shouted. "You only see _what_ a person is not _who they are_!" Tears brimmed over and she clenched her fists. "Yusaku-san may not have a pedigree, but he's kind and smart and talented and he…" Kozue's eyelids drooped and she slumped to the floor.

Her mother knew the signs of her daughter's condition and was up from her seat in a flash. "Someone, help!" she called out as she caught Kozue, her voice urgent, but controlled. "I'm sorry my daughter made such a scene, Sandaime-sama," she apologized to the older man but her eyes didn't leave Kozue. Sandaime rubbed his chin, but said nothing.

That night, Kozue was awakened gently by her name being whispered. Yusaku clung to the wall outside her window with chakra and rested his arms on her sill. Kozue was pleased to see him, but flustered and worried about his safety. He calmed her down, assuring her that he wouldn't fall the three stories to the ground and apologized for intruding.

"My mother canceled the contract!" Kozue whined. "We'll never be able to see each other again."

"Do you want to see me?"

"Well, yes!"

"Then we will see each other."

"Yusaku-san…" She didn't sound convinced.

"Kozue-chan, I care about you very much. When your mother turned me away I was worried, but I know that we will be together. All I need is for you to believe in me."

"I do!"

Yusaku grinned from ear to ear. "I love you, Kozue."

She held her breath, but no fainting spell came. Kozue's face lit up in the darkness. "Oh, Yusaku-san, I love you too!"

He sighed and stared at her in the scant starlight. "I won't be around for a little while, but when I come back, I'll see you again. Will you wait for me?"

"Of course." Shyly, Kozue leaned towards him and they shared their first kiss. Yusaku was so overwhelmed with the gesture he almost fell off the side of the building. She giggled at him quietly and said goodnight. The memory of his words and kiss made her smile over and over again and prevented her from getting much sleep that night.

-----

Two weeks went by, and Kozue waited for Yusaku to return. She all but refused to see any of the suitors her mother arranged to meet her. The visits were short and quiet. Kozue did her utmost to be as silently uncooperative as possible.

One afternoon with only a week left to summer, the house was abuzz with the news that a new Hokage had been selected. Kozue sighed and stared at the small leaves falling from the cherry tree in the courtyard. Servants drew her attention away from her melancholy as they swarmed around the decking that surrounded the courtyard, ducking in and out of sliding doors.

"Here? Now?!"

"That's what the doorman said! Go get the best tea set!"

"Sakai-sama wants everything to be perfect!"

"He could have at least warned us he was coming!"

"Where is Oujo-sama?"

Kozue cringed and wished she was a ninja so she could henge into a tree and hide. She was informed that her mother requested her presence in the parlor and that she should dress for a formal visit from the both the new and previous Hokage. 'Oh no. Please say the new Hokage is married already!' she thought in despair and went to get ready.

In the parlor, Mrs. Sakai sat and bowed to her superior guests. "We are honored Sandaime-sama, Yondaime-sama to have you in our home. We extend our congratulations to you, Yondaime-sama. When we heard you were coming, we were all so excited to meet you!" She smiled pleasantly.

Sandaime gave his successor a look. The blond young man subtly raised a brow as if to say 'beats me why she doesn't recognize me!' "The pleasure is all mine," Yusaku said with a wide, satisfied smile he had never afforded the previously acerbic Mrs. Sakai. Before she could broach the subject, Yusaku got bold. "I understand you have a captivating daughter…"

One could almost see ryou2 marks in Mrs. Sakai's eyes for a moment, but then her shoulders sagged a bit and she drew a long breath. "I do, Hokage-sama. She is my only daughter, and although all the women in our family are well known for their prowess as shinobi, she suffers from a weak heart and is as frail as a bird. Her talents in the kitchen and with music are exceptional…"

"I'd like to marry her."

Mrs. Sakai blinked a few times. "Of course, but…"

"But?" he asked, trying hard to disguise the worry in his voice.

On the other side of the room, behind the paper door Kozue sat and gripped her knees. 'Haha-ue, please, please don't promise me away!' she prayed.

"But you should meet first, at least…"

"Am I not good enough for your daughter?" he asked. Sandaime cleared his throat in warning as if to say 'don't push your luck, son.'

She looked at her hands. "That's not it at all, Hokage-sama. Only that this is my daughter's life we're talking about. I think it is in her best interest…" She closed her eyes as if what she was about to say were painful. "…To let her decide such a thing as who she will marry."

Yusaku was at a loss for words. When he had last seen this woman she had laughed him out of the room spouting that a common man such as himself would never be good enough for her daughter and now here she was refusing the cream of the crop. "Then, I'd very much like to meet her," he asked quietly. Mrs. Sakai lifted her chin and a servant opened the door Kozue was sitting behind. She stared at her mother and mouthed the word 'arigatou' before lowering her head to bow to the men. Mrs. Sakai pursed her lips, but smiled back. The men's backs were too the young woman. They turned to see her. Sandaime gave Yusaku a grin he could not repress.

"Yondaime Hokage-sama, may I present my only daughter, Sakai Kozue."

As her head lifted from her deep bow, Kozue's eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"Kozue," Yusaku asked. "Will you marry me?"

The color fell out of Mrs. Sakai's face. Sandaime chuckled softly and gave the girl a re-assuring nod that she wasn't seeing things.

"Yes!" she chimed.

Mrs. Sakai fainted.

-----

A year later, Yusaku and Kozue married. They moved to a new, large house in the older section of Konoha not far from her mother's house. Although Kozue missed the seclusion of her family estate, she loved having her own house almost as much as she did her husband.

With his duties as Hokage, Yusaku, now Yondaime, found it difficult to fulfill the mission which had brought he and his wife together. One Saturday morning before heading to work he apologized for this again and kissed her good-bye.

The afternoon snuck up on him as it often did and Yondaime grabbed a sandwich from the commissary. He tried to rush to his next appointment, saying hello to ten or fifteen shinobi on the way out. Before he reached the meeting place, Yondaime made sure the gohei that laced his neck were on straight and that there were no crumbs on his face. He took a deep breath and vanished.

Three children sat on a roof, somewhat roasting in the unseasonable heat. A boy and girl of about 12 sat on the ledge, their feet dangling through the railing. An even younger boy stood off to the side, looking in the opposite direction. None of them were moved by their sensei's flashy entrance, but they were surprised at his identity. They got to their feet and marveled at him. Yondaime's face showed no emotion. He folded his arms.

"Ok, listen up you guys. You passed the final at the academy yesterday which means you graduated, but you're not Genin until I say so." He eyed each of his students.

"Holy crap, The Fourth is our sensei?!" the older boy exclaimed.

"You may refer to me as Yondaime-sama, Yondaime Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama or Yusaku-sensei. First order of business: introductions. "My name is Yusaku, I like getting up early, I don't like those who don't give it 100 and I aspire to be the best Hokage this village has ever seen." He turned his head to the older boy. "From the left. Name, likes, dislikes, dream."

The boy blinked at the curt delivery but shrugged. "Name's Soichiro. I like learning new jutsu, I don' like bein' late and I hope to become a Tokubetsu Jounin like my old man."

"Next?"

"My name is Kyoko, I like flower arranging…" The girl frowned as the younger boy scoffed. "_I like flower arranging,"_ she repeated angrily. "And I don't like pompous little kids! I don't know what my dream is yet but I hope I find out soon," she admitted shyly and smiled innocently. It was only temporary. She punctuated her statement with a short giggle and a bright, wide grin for her sensei. She stuck out her tongue at the youngster.

"Alright. Lastly…" Yondaime nodded to the younger boy.

He shifted his weight slowly from one foot to the other, sighed and stared unblinking at his sensei. "My name is Kakashi. I like a few things, I dislike a bunch of things and my dreams are really none of your business."

Soichiro and Kyoko's eyes bulged. Yondaime raised a brow but said nothing. "That is all for today. Tomorrow meet at Training Field 1 at dawn. Pack for a full day and don't eat breakfast. You will lose it." He narrowed his eyes at them and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Yondaime trudged back to the office, mulling over his students. They were selected to be his charges because they were the three in their class with the most potential to lead Konoha. The first two seemed fine, but that young one was going to be trouble. "Five year old Genin," he muttered and sat down at his desk. The information packets on each of them were still out. He leafed through Kakashi's. A tell-tale grey form raised one of his brows. "Oh, he's in the Plan, poor kid. Still, doesn't seem like he's Hokage material…" Yondaime scratched his head idly. The Plan was set up decades earlier to help raise the orphan's of Konoha' shinobi and was well known for being a tough way to grow up. Rather than pamper children, the Plan allowed them to live independently once they reached a certain level. Kakashi was still living in the dorms according to the form because he was too young.

"Welcome back, Hokage-sama," a Chuunin crossed to his desk, greeted him and handed him five scrolls marked A, B, C, D and S. He put his student's information away as the clock chimed six and another session of mission assignments began. Ninja of various rank filtered into the room. The usual din of conversation got louder. Yondaime looked up from assigning a Jounin to an A rank and did his best not to be surprised.

"Wow," the Chuunin to his left commented. "Every year you get a few of the more ambitious brand-new Genin coming in for their first missions, but this kid's gotta be lost!"

The Jounin took his assignment, turned around, looked down, saw the hitai-ate and whistled at Kakashi. "They're churnin' em out younger every year!" he marveled and laughed as he left. Kakashi stepped up to the table.

"Rank?" his sensei asked very seriously.

"Genin," Kakashi answered.

Yondaime looked down the D rank scroll and tried not to grin. "Here's your assignment. Next?"

-----

It didn't matter to Kakashi what the mission was, or even that it was his first; just that it was a mission. He wanted to do as many as possible, as soon as possible. If he had a couple hundred missions under his belt he was sure people would take him seriously. He was scowling under his facemask and mulling over what kind of horribly mundane task his new sensei had assigned him when he came to the house.

"Oh, hello," the lady of the house greeted him after he rang the bell. "You must be here for my mission!" Her warm, sincere smile shined down on him and he could do nothing but stare for a moment.

"Uh, I… yes! I'm Kakashi. This is for…" he looked at the stub Yondaime had given him. "Kozue's groceries?"

"That's me!" she chimed. "Ready when you are."

For nearly a decade to follow, Kakashi would help Kozue, when he didn't have another higher rank mission, to get her groceries. Another young shinobi who declared himself his rival often wondered how it was the Kakashi tallied up so many D-rank missions, but he never told.

"That Gai," Yondaime said one night when Kozue had invited Kakashi over for soup and sandwiches. "What is it with him and you, anyway? What'd you do to offend him?"

"Nothing," Kakashi moaned and pushed his chair back. "Gochisosamadeshita," he thanked them for the meal and allowed Kozue to pinch his cheek before putting his facemask back up. "He's just a lunatic who's probably going to burn himself out before he even becomes a teenager. You know he did 1,500 laps around the administration building the other day after I beat him in a foot race?"

Yondaime laughed. Kozue frowned and he tried to stifle it. "You shouldn't taunt him so much. Maybe then he won't fight you," she suggested.

"He comes looking for me!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"It's true. He comes to our practices when he's done with his and waits for him. It's actually kind of cute," Yondaime said with a smirk.

"Oi!" Kakashi shouted. "It is not cute!!" Kozue laughed and he calmed down. "Sorry. Well, goodnight Yusaku-sensei, Kozue-san. Thanks for the grub."

"Good night Kakashi-kun," she said and saw him out. "See you soon."

When he had left, she turned to her husband and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's so nice when Kakashi-kun comes to visit. He's turned into such a nice boy. A few years ago I was still worried that a five year old boy had been made a ninja, but he's doing just fine."

"Because he had you to worry about him," her husband remarked and laced his arms around her.

"I was thinking…" she began and crossed her arms over his. She paused and listened to the insects chirping in the late summer evening. She put her head to his chest and felt his heart pound in expectation. A smile stretched across her face. "I want to have a baby."

Yondaime took a deep breath. "Kozue, you know what the doctor said…"

"But that was a few years ago!" she protested. "Please, Yusaku-san! It's like my soul is crying out to me! Whenever Kakashi-kun comes over I feel like I'm not going to let him leave next time."

He turned her around and looked into her pale green eyes. "We'll go to the doctor again and see what he says."

"Oh, Yusaku-san!" she cheered and hugged him tightly. Just for a moment he thought how impossible it was that such a strong hug could come from someone so frail. Then her breathing became short and he picked her up, knowing that if she didn't lie down she'd pass out from the excitement.

"I'm going to do everything I can to make you happy, and keep you safe," he whispered and took her upstairs.

_1 "Haha-ue" is an old respect term one would refer to their mother as. lit. Mother Above Similarly, older sister is Ane-ue, brother Ani-ue and father Chichi-ue.  
2 In Naruto the monetary value is 'ryou', anime episode 86 12:19 min in – courtesy of Leslina_


	3. Chapter Three

Ho no Kuni Monogatari:"Kage no Naka"  
Fire Country Stories: "In the Shadows"

By Aoi Kami Sarah

_The following chapter contains sections from another of my fics "Agete Torisaru To Give and To Take"_

CHAPTER THREE

October 10th, two years later, Kozue was a week past due with her baby. Yondaime slept lightly beside her. It was almost one in the morning. Konoha was quiet. Kozue's eyes flicked open suddenly. She glanced over feverishly for her husband and let out a quiet sigh. A few minutes later and she discovered what had awoken her. She grunted softly as the contraction hit. Yondaime turned over to face her and she reached out to wake him. In the distance, a loud crash like thunder but totally out of place sounded, reflecting off of the cliffs to the north. A second later there was an unearthly scream that echoed through Konoha.

He was awake before her fingers touched him. He flicked on the light and stood up, listening. They stared at each other, faces grim.

"What the hell was that?" he asked quietly.

Kozue mouthed, "I don't know". 'I can't be selfish,' she thought. 'I'll get by…' "You should go," she said with a smile.

He sat down on the bed and put his hand over her belly. She prayed that another contraction wouldn't come before he took his hand away. He kissed her deeply. "I'll be back soon," he said. "If anything happens you call the hospital."

"Nothing will happen," she assured him. "Go. They need you."

-----

There were many days when he wished they would just call him Yusaku. This night was one of them. The village was in panic. A huge demon fox, supposedly with nine tails, the most powerful sort, was running amok in the fire country and had now entered Konoha. Buildings were burning, people; both shinobi and civilians were dying.

In the command center, too many people were shouting at him at once. "Yondaime-sama, the seventh squadron has reportedly been wiped out!" "Hokage-sama, the fire department can't get around to the lower east side!" "Yondaime-sama, what are we going to do?!"

He was thinking of that. The phrase ran over and over in his head. "dou-suru… dou-suru… dou suru…"

"Hokage-sama!"

"What?!" he barked. The shinobi messenger looked a little astounded. "Sorry. What is it?"

"Your wife, Hokage-sama. It's time," the messenger said gravely, not wanting to sound joyous during such a tense time.

"Thank you." He nodded and looked around the room for someone suitable to leave in charge. He was not surprised to see Sarutobi.

"Go to her," the old man said quietly. "I'll see to things here."

"Thank you Sandaime-sama." Yondaime passed by his predecessor on the way out. "I'll go to the beast when I'm done. I think I have an ace up my sleeve yet."

"Not the Fuuin…?" Sarutobi asked, his face losing color.

"I'm afraid so. This isn't a normal adversary. If I don't contain it, all will be lost."

Sandaime stared at Yusaku and saw the resolution anchored in his blue eyes. "Good luck, Son," Sarutobi said and embraced the 4th Hokage as if it would be the last time he'd see him alive.

Yondaime nearly flew over the rooftops to the hospital. When he arrived Kozue had already given birth to their son. The baby wailed as the doctors cleaned him up. Yondaime glanced at his head of blond hair and smiled. When he turned to Kozue, she was pale and reached out to him. He rushed to her side.

"You made it!" she cried. They embraced.

"You're cold…" he whispered, brows coming together.

"I'm sorry…"

Yondaime looked around, confused, lost. "This can't be happening…" His village was under attack. Hundreds of his ninja had died already. Not his wife, too. Not his wife, please, not that.

"Yusaku-san… Save the village… I know you can do it," she said softly, kissing his hand as it caressed her face.

"Kozue… I will. I promise."

His son screamed from the other side of the room as his wife let go.

A shorthaired man of less than average height wearing a grey suit walked quickly into the room. He looked fairly out of place, not only because of his dress, and the fact that he was smoking a cigarette, but because he entered through a solid wall. Yondaime turned and walked right through him. "Sorry, pal," the man in the suit whispered. Yondaime shuddered and walked out the door. Kozue's body lay on the table and her spirit stood by the nurse who was holding her son. The suit dragged on his cigarette and allowed her a moment.

"He's beautiful," she cooed.

"Uh-oh," the suit groaned. "Lady, you're supposed to say 'good-bye'.

Kozue turned and stared indignantly at him. "Good-bye?"

"I don't have time to explain, just take my hand, ok?" he said, the cigarette hanging from his lip.

"No! I don't know you." Kozue put her hand on her son's head and was alarmed to see it pass through. "What's wrong with me?!"

"You're dead, see?" the suit hooked his thumb in the direction of the body. The doctors were pulling a sheet over her head.

"No… This can't be happening…"

"Ugh…" The suit moaned. "Ok, I don't have time for this. Stay put. I'll be back." He crushed out the cigarette and vanished into thin air.

-----

On the other side of town, things were looking far more dismal. The cries of shinobi could be heard between the occasional unholy roar or crash of trees as the Kyuubi crushed everything in its path. 13-year-old Hatake Kakashi directed his team to move out and made to follow when he saw a streak of white and red fly by.

"Yusaku-sensei," he muttered, lowered his hitai-ate over his single Sharingan iris and changed direction. As he caught up with Yondaime, he noticed the roaring was getting louder, but fewer trees were being felled. The next sight he saw astounded him.

Yondaime was standing on Gamabunta, the giant frog's head holding the Nine Tails in place with a strong binding Jutsu. Kakashi hopped up the frog's body and knelt before his sensei.

"Kakashi, boy am I glad to see you," Yondaime chuckled, sweat pouring down his face. He held his right arm out, tense, holding the wriggling kitsune at bay with just his will and a carefully practiced jutsu.

"Sensei, what can I do?!" he begged, knowing the stress this was putting on the man.

"Run to the hospital and steal my son."

"WHAT!?"

"Do it as fast as you can. I have no time to explain, do it now, Kakashi!"

"Ha-hai!" he stuttered and bounded off as fast as his legs would take him.

-----

Kakashi was running, but still stealthy. He entered the hospital, found the maternity ward, located the baby and made off with him without anyone being the wiser. At least, anyone living. Kozue tried to shout at Kakashi, but he couldn't hear her.

"Matte, Kakashi-kun! What are you doing!?" When he didn't respond she ran after him. He avoided a doctor in the hall by going upstairs. "Wait!" she called after him. He got to the roof and jumped.

Kozue didn't think twice. She leapt after him and was amazed to learn she could fly. "Wait!!!" she cried and flew after him.

-----

An amazingly fast fifteen minutes later Kakashi returned with the wailing infant.

"Give him to me." Kakashi laid him in Yondaime's left arm. "Thank you Kakashi."

"What are you going to do, Sensei?" Kakashi asked, unable to conceal the worry in his voice.

"Watch carefully, Kakashi. This may be the only time you will ever see a Jutsu like this performed."

He lifted the protector from his Sharingan eye and obeyed his sensei.

"I have a favor to ask of you, Kakashi. And I have something to give you in return…"

"Anything, Sensei!" Kakashi cried.

Even under the pressure he was in, Yondaime smiled. "Tell no one that this boy is mine. I don't want him to have to live up to anything or feel badly for what I'm about to do… I would prefer everyone regard him as a hero, but I'm afraid that won't happen. When the time comes, a time like this, then and only then tell him. Watch over him for me."

Kakashi nodded, a lump forming in his throat. The Nine Tails screeched from his fixed spot.

"And for you in return… There's a letter in my house. You'll find it addressed to you, about _your_ parents. Your father confided in me… If you want to know, I am the only man who knows…" he added sadly, the realization that his death was imminent just beginning to sink in. "Watch closely, Kakashi. This will be the last thing I teach you."

Yondaime moved his right hand quickly. In a few seconds he went from casting a retaining jutsu to a sealing jutsu. The Nine Tails writhed and screamed as it was transmuted into raw energy. Yondaime's body became the conduit for its charka and it flowed from his right hand to his left. He sunk to knees and balanced the baby on his lap. His left hand wove a complex seal on his tiny stomach. When the last symbol had been inscribed, Yondaime collapsed and the Nine Tails was gone.

Kozue stood and waited. "I'm dead," she mused. "There's no reason to be upset. Yusaku-san will be joining me soon." She watched Kakashi pick her son up and cry over the death of his sensei. He rocked back and forth and cradled the baby who cried back. Kozue watched sadly, but she didn't shed a tear. The tell-tale sound of a match being lit made her spin around.

"You again!" she shouted. "I'm not going anywhere with you, I'm waiting for Yusaku-san!"

The suit rolled his eyes. "He's not coming."

"Where is he?!"

He pointed to the baby and the seal on his stomach. "He's in there with that thing."

"No…" Kozue stepped back.

"Come on, Lady. Take my hand. It's a better place you're going to anyway…"

"NO!" she shouted. "Yusaku-san will come for me, I believe it!"

"Ughhh…" He took a short drag off his cigarette. "FINE. Wait. See if I care. I've got hundreds of dead ninja to pass and you're not going to hold me up. But don't come crying to me if something shitty happens to you 'cause you wouldn't cooperate, ok?" he snarled. His feet lifted off the ground and he flew into the woods, fading as he went. The glow of the cigarette's cherry was the last she saw of him. Kozue shook her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks. When she looked down, Kakashi was gone.

"No…" she whispered. She floated away towards town repeating 'no' over and over again.

Ten-year-old Umino Iruka had been crying for an hour. He sat against a tree and listened to the horrible sounds coming from the woods. His parents were gone, stomped out like bugs by the beast. Suddenly it was quiet. Ninja started coming out of the forest, lining up along a well-traveled path. He got up and wandered over to see what was going on.

"Is it over?" one asked another.

"I don't hear anything…"

"Did you hear?"

"Who's dead?"

"A lot of people are dead…"

"No, _He's_ dead!"

"Not _him_!"

Iruka rubbed his eyes and looked between people's legs at what they were staring at. A few shinobi were walking slowly up the path towards the village. They had a man on their shoulders. His red and white cloak flowed between them. It was dirty and in the moonlight the flames on it were truly in shadow.

"Hokage-sama…" everyone whispered. They knew what he had done. He had saved them all.

Iruka sniffled, realizing that it was not only his parents who were gone. He wasn't at all surprised to see Yondaime's student Hatake Kakashi walking behind the procession, but he was a little confused to see him carrying a baby. The child wailed like a siren into the night as they walked away. Iruka watched them till he could no longer see them, only hear the baby's cries.

-----

"It is with a heavy heart," Sandaime proclaimed from the parapet overlooking the village square. "That I reassume the duties of Hokage."

The townsfolk were silent. A light cough or a baby crying here or there just made the silence more obvious, more stinging. The sun was blotted from the sky by a thick summertime haze. It had rained for the last three days. Some said it was welcome, washing away the sadness and allowing everyone to grieve. Some said the heavens themselves were grieving with Konoha. This day had been scheduled, one week after Yondaime's death, to memorialize him. Sandaime went on.

"It was Yondaime's wish for each of his people to live in peace. He gave his life, as many of us do in the Ninja Way, for this village. When you think of him, remember what it means to be a Leaf-nin and thank him…"

Kakashi knew very well what it meant to be a Leaf-nin. He was only 13 years old, but that day he had become a man. He watched his mentor, the only man he had every looked up to perform amazing feats, giving his own life and possibly the life of his only son so that the village could be saved. When he returned with the baby that night and met with Sandaime, Kakashi learned that Kozue's life had ended as well. He hadn't shed a tear in front of the old man, but his heart had split in two. The people he considered the closest thing to parents were gone. Kakashi turned and slipped through the crowd.

Yondaime's house was still and quiet. No sweet scents of Kozue's famous soups greeted his nostrils. No rolling laughter, no music, nothing. The air already felt stale inside. Kakashi went straight to an old roll-top desk and began to rummage through it. He shivered, suddenly feeling cold, but attributed it to being ill at ease for going through his sensei's things.

"Okaeri nasai, Kakashi-kun!" Kozue chimed. "I'm so glad you've come to visit. Have you seen Yusaku-san?" she asked. He continued to rummage, ignoring her. She pouted. "Kakashi-kun? Is everything alright?"

Using deduction, Kakashi found the letter in a stack of Yusaku's love letters from Kozue from before they were married. It was addressed to Hatake Kakashi and dated just a few weeks after his birth. The handwriting on the outside was Yondaime's fine, educated script, but the inside was sloppy and mostly in hiragana.

'Kakashi, this is your father writing. If you'er reading this, it means that your either kinda old, or…' He read a little of the first badly formed line and folded the letter back up.

Kozue read over his shoulder much faster than he did and gasped. "Kakashi-kun, your parents are Jiraiya-sama and Cousin Tsunade?!"

"No," he said aloud, startled at the empty sound of his own voice in the vacant house. "Not yet. I don't wanna know yet." He looked out the window and saw that people were already dispersing from Sandaime's speech. He must have told them about the Nine Tails Baby, because already they were abuzz with rumor and sigh. Kakashi folded the letter, stuffed it into a pocket of his flack-jacket and headed for home.

"Kakashi-kun, please wait!" Kozue cried. "Please come back!"

Before closing the door behind him he paused, but didn't turn around. He imagined the couple saying 'come back soon'.

Kozue slumped to the ground and sobbed into her hands. "Why is this happening?" she moaned. "Why am I all alone…?"

-----

Kakashi raised his single exposed brow in a rare show of amazement. "You want me to what?" the 25-year-old Jounin and former Anbu member asked his Hokage. Sandaime puffed on a pipe and repeated himself.

"I want you to become a sensei."

"Sandaime-sama…" he started to argue. "I'm the LAST person who should be around kids…" He brushed a hand over the backpack that contained his beloved smutty novel.

"You have too little faith in your abilities, Kakashi-kun." Sandaime turned and looked out over the railing of the rooftop they were standing on. Konoha was just waking up and pale sunlight and its long shadows covered the town. "I want you to try it out. I don't want you pass any of them."

"What?!" he asked, growing more confused.

Sandaime clutched the railing and looked over his village. "In a few years Uzumaki Naruto will graduate from the Ninja Academy."

Kakashi let out a sigh and joined him. "I see."

"I agree that you are not ready to handle the youth of Konoha, but if you test three or four groups, you'll have a better leg-up on the responsibilities you will soon have." Sandaime faced Kakashi. "It wasn't _his_ wish, but it is mine that you help him, Kakashi. Will you?"

Kakashi lowered his head. "I don't know what I could possibly do for the kid."

"Just train him to become a Chuunin. The rest will fall into place," the old man said and patted him on the shoulder. Kakashi nodded his consent and walked away.

That evening, Kakashi couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling in his tiny apartment and tried to get the past out of his head. Discussing the Nine Tails boy had stirred up things he hadn't thought about in years. Since it was such a warm evening, he went for a walk. Soon he found himself in the older part of town that was cluttered with the big houses of old, rich Konoha families. He passed the Uchiha complex and stared at the no-trespassing signs nailed to the doors where two years earlier his former Anbu teammate Uchiha Itachi had killed the entire clan saving only his brother from the slaughter. He passed the Sakai residence, noble and quiet in the early morning hours.

Further along on a hill overlooking a pond stood a large, empty house. Kakashi climbed the hill slowly. As he got closer he realized the house was empty. The last time he'd seen it was only days after their deaths and the house hadn't changed yet. His heart sank as he saw boards nailed to the windows and doors. Kakashi stood on the front porch and put his hand on the door. "No," he said aloud. "I can't bear it." He turned to go.

"Damn shame, ain't it?" a man of average height wearing a western suit asked as he struck a match startling the otherwise alert ninja.

Kakashi's eyes widened, straining to see in the scant glow of a distant streetlight and slightly blinded by the flare of the match. "Who the hell are you?" he asked quickly, knowing something was off about this man.

"Name's Yotsuya. You should really go inside," the suit recommended, exhaling. "She needs your help."

Kakashi blinked at the man, turned to look at the house, turned back and Yotsuya was gone. He thought he saw the faint glow of his cherry and smelled the smoke, but he had disappeared. Kakashi stepped back towards the house, senses heightened. "What the fuck…?" He turned and stared at the door. His mind reeled, but the idea that Kozue could be in trouble was firmly planted in his head. It didn't take much for the Jounin to be able to sneak his way inside.

Yotsuya reappeared and sucked on his cigarette. "Sorry kid. If I could get in I wouldn'tna sent ya." He waited.

Kakashi moved silently across the floor of the entryway. Everything was covered in dust and there wasn't a single piece of furniture in sight. The humidity and warmth of the spring evening seemed miles away. "What am I doing here?" he asked himself and suppressed a shudder. "Kozue-san's not in trouble. She's dead and has been for…" A soft ping sounded behind him. He spun around and looked towards the fireplace, his heart in his throat. "She's been dead for _years_," he asserted and forced himself to walk towards the fireplace. The grate was open and the humid air breathed through the flue. He reached in and closed it. As he did, the door to the kitchen slammed. He smacked the back of his head on the mantle as he jumped at the sound. Kakashi sped for the window he had jimmied open to get in but stopped again and laughed.

"What am I, five? There's nothing weird about wind slamming a door." The temperature in the room dropped another ten degrees and a deep, otherworldly voice growled, "_Get out of my house…"_

Kakashi's back became as stiff as a board. He turned slowly, leaned against a wall and drew a kunai, still sort of chuckling to himself. "Ok, that's weird…" he whispered.

"_Get out…"_ the unidentifiable voice repeated. He strained to tell the source. It seemed to come from everywhere.

"Kozue-san?" he asked. "Is that you?"

"_Get… out…" _the voice echoed. One by one all of the doors in the house slammed then slammed again till the sound was deafening. "_Get out of my HOUSE!!!"_

Without further protest, Kakashi did just that. The suit didn't have a chance to question him. The Jounin flew past him like a shot and headed back into town without a word.

"Damn it," Yotsuya spat as he threw his butt to the ground and crushed it out. He glanced to the left of the darkened house. A faint glowing shape spiraled towards the structure. "Ah well. So much for a quick-fix." He strolled over to the slow moving apparition. On closer inspection it looked like a six-foot dog-headed snake with bulging eyes and huge fangs. "Hey, you got a permit to haunt this joint?" he joked, flicked an oddly shaped shuriken out of his sleeve and pierced the snake's body. It and the shuriken vanished. Yotsuya looked up at the boarded windows and narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, Lady. I shoulda come back for you," he said sadly then straightened his tie and cleared his throat. "Toldja not to blame me if anything shitty happened to you."  
  
To be continued...


	4. Chapter Four

Ho no Kuni Monogatari:"Kage no Naka"  
Fire Country Stories: "In the Shadows"

By Aoi Kami Sarah

_The following chapter contains sections from another of my fics "No One Will Ever Call Me Sweetheart"_

CHAPTER FOUR

Two years later, the house looked much the same. The shrubs around it were a bit higher, but still no one had dared move in to Yondaime's house. Anyone who knew about the house would tell you that a 'restless spirit' haunted it. No one wanted to believe that the late Hokage or his wife was responsible for such a frightening presence.

Yotsuya materialized on the porch, flicked one of his special shuriken at a few lesser demons slithering toward the house and walked over to the front door. His cigarette dropped out of his mouth.

"No way. Oh you stupid fucking meatbags."

A notice was plastered to the door indicating the house no longer met safety guidelines and would be demolished in four days. Yotsuya slapped his hand to his face and dragged it down to rub the stubble on his chin. "Four days. Ugh. If the Kage find out about this I'm screwed." He paced back and forth. "Ok Yotsuya, think. That Kakashi kid couldn't make contact with her. Why? She can't be so far gone that a relative wouldn't have _some_ effect on her. Maybe 'cause he's alive all that flesh got in the way…" He picked up the cigarette, only slightly disappointed to discover it had gone out. He snapped his wrist and it came back to life. He took a drag, studied the cherry and grinned.

-----

Naruto punched the oaken pillar one more time and swooned. He let his body fall forward to crash into the pillar where he stayed leaning, his chest heaving with exertion for a few moments before he pushed back and dropped to the ground. The clouds lumbered by overhead making their way across the sky as if chasing the sun in a slow-motion race. "I'll show that Sasuke…" he whispered. "I'm going to be Hokage. He'll see. They'll all see..." His eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

Inside Uzumaki Naruto were the same guts and blood of any other average 12-year-old ninja boy. But on the spiritual plane there existed within him a fortress no animal or man could touch. Fortunately for Yotsuya, this restriction didn't apply to him.

He groaned as his nice white and black wingtip shoes splashed down into freezing cold ankle deep water. He flicked his black Zippo lighter open and by its light spiraled his way into the heart of the fortress. Finally he was able to see the great bars of the prison and the relatively small fuda note that held the thing within at bay. He passed the cage on his left and a low purring rumble sounded from within.

"Who goes there?" a booming voice from the darkness asked.

"Just relax, Kitsy. I'm not here for you."

"Oh?" it asked and came to the front of the cage. From 50 stories up the Kyuubi's head bowed down to get a closer look at Yotsuya. "If you let me out of here I'll make you a god."

"You should take that on the road, Kitsy. That's funny as hell," he deadpanned. "Just go back to bed."

"Who do you think you are, little man?!" the Kyuubi growled angrily.

"Che," he scoffed. "You might have gotten by me once upon a time, but you fell to Kage while he was still living. You're pathetic." The Zippo's flame was dwarfed suddenly by a green glow coming from the 5'8" tall man. His face turned blue and his head sprouted fangs and horns.

"You!" the demon growled and took a step back.

"Yeah. Name's Yotsuya, the Fire Country's third God of Death." Yotsuya straightened his tie as he hid his true face again. "Unless you wanna catch the express bus to the next world, I suggest you back the hell up."

The beast growled but offered no more protest. Yotsuya proceeded past his cage. Around the corner of the enormous enclosure that held the Nine Tails Demon Fox was another cage on a 1/10ths scale. Yotsuya stopped in front of this and shook his head at the fuda seal attached to the bars. "It's really annoying how the living go around like they know what they hell they're doing..." he grumbled and rapped on the bars. "Hey, wake up in there. I got a favor I need you to do." When there was no answer Yotsuya flicked his lighter again. "You in there, pal? Come on. It's really important!" He could just make out the shape of a person sitting on the floor with his head on his arms, which hugged his folded knees. "Hey, Yondy. Wakey wakey!"

Yondaime's head rose slightly and Yotsuya shuddered at the dullness of his eyes. "Don't tell me he's too far gone…" he groaned. "Hey, Yondaime-sama. Come here. It's about Kozue." The name seemed to perk him up a little. "Yeah, you remember Kozue-chan? Blond, green eyes, sweet smile? Well she's in a little bit of trouble these days…" Before he could finish Yondaime was up and at the bars.

"Kozue's in trouble?"

Yotsuya grinned. "There's a boy. She sure is. And you're the only one who can help."

His shoulders slumped. "I can't do anything from in here."

Yotsuya shook his finger at him. "That's where my part comes in." He pulled what looked like a glowing cue ball out of his pocket. "We'll swap you with this for a while. This is a Fuuin Tama. It's got a volunteer soul in it. You go save your Kozue and this little guy'll fulfill the Fuuin Shiki's contract while you're away!"

"But…"

"We don't have time for buts. In four days they're gonna demolish your house. Kozue has embedded herself inside of it. If we don't get her out before it gets torn down she'll go from being a simple Poltergeist to being a Localized Phantasm."

Yondaime raised a brow. "Which means?"

"Bad shit. You in or not?"

He simply nodded. Yotsuya tossed the cue ball into the cage. It blossomed like a flower and out stepped a young shinobi. "I'm honored to be of service one last time, Yondaime-sama," he said and bowed deeply to his Hokage.

"Come on, this way!" Yotsuya shouted urgently, bending the bars just enough to get Yondaime out.

"Who was that guy?" he asked as they splashed through the steadily lightening corridors.

"Leaf nin. Just died in battle. Good kid."

Yondaime nodded, his head spinning. "A Poltergeist is a ghost that throws things around, right?" he asked as they ran.

"Basically, yes. They also attract other free-roaming entities on the Spirit plane to their location."

"Then what's a Localized Phantasm?"

"Well," Yotsuya huffed. "A Poltergeist has a house to haunt, right? LP's don't have a house or anything familiar to them from when they were alive any more so they haunt the area instead. It makes them only a little more mobile but a ton stronger. They attract bigger entities and thusly become bigger hazards to the stability of the Spirit World."

"The Spirit World…" Yondaime repeated. Finally the light that had been getting brighter became blinding. Suddenly they found themselves outside. Yotsuya pointed in the direction of the house and took to the air. It took Yondaime a moment to figure out that he too could fly, but joined the Shinigami quickly.

"I remember now. When I became Hokage, Sarutobi and the council members told me…"

"About the Kage?" Yatsuya finished. "Yep. It's true.

"Then am I a Kage now?"

"No. They think you're inside the kid. And if they find out otherwise my ass is grass. We gotta do this as fast and as quietly as possible."

They touched down outside the house. Yondaime gasped at the state of it, but Yotsuya urged him towards it. "Ok. All you gotta do is get her to let you in and get her out. Don't get freaked out at how different she might seem or look. If you can get her to come out of the house, she'll be A-Ok. Got it?"

"Why can't you do it?" he asked, raising a suspicious brow.

"Unless she permits a soul entrance, nothing or no one other than the living can enter. And if we wait till they tear the house down, I'll be forced to exterminate her."

"What?!"

"Yeah, so do you're best, ok!" Yotsuya said with a shifty smile and lit a cigarette.

Yondaime approached the front door and reached out to touch the piece of plywood that was nailed to it. He expected his hand to go through, but instead he felt a slight shock. When he gave it a good push the feeling intensified and got him nowhere.

"Kozue-chan?" he asked. "It's me, Yusaku." The house seemed to pulse in response, but his hand stayed on the outside. "I heard you were in trouble so I came as soon as I could. They're going to tear the house down soon, Honey, and if you don't come out something really bad could happen to you."

"Heh, 'could'," Yotsuya scoffed. The look of death he got from Yondaime made him wince. He held up his hands and disappeared into the air.

Yondaime turned his attention back to the door. "Kozue-chan, I'm sorry I couldn't be with you. I saved Konoha, though, just like you asked me to!" he said with a smile that soon faded. "That was the last thing you said to me before you died. I saw you die, Kozue-chan. There was nothing anyone could have done but I feel like I let you down because I wasn't able to be with you." He leaned on his arm against the door and looked at the decaying doormat. "Please let me in, Kozue. I miss you so much. I don't want anything bad to happen to you ever again. Please help me save you. Please…" he whispered. Yotsuya reappeared and watched apprehensively. A cricket chirped once or twice then Yondaime fell through the door.

"All right!!!" Yotsuya cheered. "Ok, Kid. Get her out and you're home free. I'll come back and check on you later."

Yondaime looked around his empty house. "Kozue? Where are you?" The silence made him more nervous than any Poltergeist activity could have. "Kozue?" A door creaked somewhere within the huge house and a strange jingling sound followed. He knew by the sound exactly which room it was coming from and ran up the front stairs. "Kozue? Kozue!" he called as he ran. At the end of the hall the would-be nursery door stood open and creaked softly as it swung slowly back and forth. He swallowed hard and turned the corner.

Next to where they had placed the crib they bought for their unborn son, Kozue sat in an ethereal rocking chair. She looked asleep, her head lolled to one side and she was bound to the chair and the floor and walls by thick chains around her arms, legs and neck. "Kozue!" he cried and rushed to her, falling to his knees before her and taking her hands in his. "Kozue, please wake up!"

Slowly her eyes flicked open and she moved her head with what looked like great effort to look at him. "Yu… saku… san?"

"Yeah, it's me," he answered, his heart breaking to see her in such a state. "Come on Sweetheart, we're getting out of here, he said and tried to pull her arm towards him but the chains held her down.

"I can't," she whispered, her voice squeaking with disuse.

"Sure you can," he said with a smile. "We need to get out of the house. It's not safe here anymore."

"I can't…" she repeated, rolling her head back to her shoulder again.

"Kozue, please. I'm going to take you out of here. I'm so sorry I couldn't stay with you. I'll never let anything bad happen to you again, I swear it!" he blurted out.

"Yusaku-san..." Kozue brightened. "Really?"

Too late to go back on his word and desperately needing to get her out, Yusaku assured her. "Really. I promise." He stood up and held her hands, making the chains taught. "Come on. These bonds are all in your head. Just forget about them and come with me."

"But I…"

"No time for buts," he echoed the Shinigami. "I love you, Kozue. Let's go."

Her eyes softened and a faint smile graced her lips. She pulled on his hands and tried to free herself of her own effort. It was all that was needed and the chains disintegrated as if they were made of dust. Yondaime scooped her up in to his arms and she buried her face into his shoulder as they left the house.

He put her down on the porch and looked around for Yotsuya. When he didn't see him immediately an idea came to Yondaime. "Where do you want to go?"

"Well… wouldn't we go to the next world?" she asked.

"Maybe not just yet," he replied, artfully avoiding the subject of his incarceration. Thinking about just that gave him another idea. "Would you like to see our son?"

Her eyes lit up. "Would I!?" she asked and they took off into town.

Only moments later Yotsuya re-appeared. He squinted at the house, walked up to the front door, walked through it and cursed vehemently. "Lost her again!!!" he shouted.

-----

The following morning, rain patted in a staccato rhythm on the pane just to the left of Naruto's head. A comforter was bunched at his feet and the thin sheet covered only his midsection. Despite the chilly weather, Naruto snored comfortably through the night.

But when he woke, the rain had not lifted. The boy sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes and remembered it was Sunday. "Day off," he murmured and fell back on his pillow. Unfortunately, he was already awake. His eyes barely open, he looked out at the grey morning. The sound of the rain filled the room. He sighed and pulled the discarded comforter up around his chin. Sitting in thin air just outside his window, Naruto's late parents watched as they had been doing for the last 24 hours with the unending patience of the dead. Kozue noted the soft frown on his face, the pinch of flesh between his arched brows and worried about her son.

At eleven o'clock Naruto was roused to the sound of knocking on his door. He knew there was only one person it could possibly be. Wordlessly, Naruto opened the door and turned back to bed.

"Ohayo!" his sensei, Iruka chimed cheerfully. The man's smile drooped from the less-than-warm welcome. Not to be deterred, he scuffed his feet on the mat and let himself in. "I brought cup ramen!" When Naruto didn't come running out of his bedroom, Iruka began to worry. He stuck his head in the doorway. "Naruto, you ok?"

"I dunno…" came the muffled reply. His friend sat on the edge of his bed and waited. Iruka was often short tempered with the boy's rebellious ways, but he could also be endlessly patient when necessary.

"Who's that?" Kozue asked.

"Umino Iruka. Chuunin. He was our son's sensei at the Acadamy. Good kid. His parents were killed the same day we died," Yondaime answered. Kozue nodded in approval. After a few minutes the covers squirmed and a blond head emerged.

"There you are," Iruka smiled. "Come on. Let me make you some ramen." He shook one of the cups for emphasis. Naruto shrugged but did finally slide out of bed.

Iruka busied himself with the teakettle and threw some expired items out of Naruto's fridge. He washed a few dishes until the water was ready then prepared two of the cups he had brought with him. He set them in front of Naruto and himself and pulled a chair up to the little kitchen table.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei…" Naruto mumbled, watching steam rise through the gap in the paper lid. "How old were you when you…?" he began, but lost his nerve.

Iruka straightened up a little in his chair. He reached out and warmed his hands on the little paper cup of Sapporo Ichiban Miso ramen before him. "I was thirteen when I lost my parents." He chose his words carefully; unsure of what Naruto wanted to hear. The ghostly voyeurs who were now standing in the back of the room exchanged astonished looks.

"So you remember them?" Naruto too laced his fingers around his cup, but kept his eyes on the steam emanating from it.

"Yes I do."

"Do you miss them?"

"Of course."

"Would you miss them if you had never known them?" he asked quickly but quietly.

Iruka's heart twisted. The apartment seemed suddenly very quiet. Even the ghosts were silent. The rain had stopped. "I don't know," he replied.

"Doesn't make much sense, does it?" Naruto added and looked up as if he wanted agreement.

"It's only human." The teacher fidgeted a bit. He tried to think of the right thing to say. "Even if you never experienced it, you long for it."

"Were my parents killed by the Nine Tails, too?" the boy asked softly. Kozue whimpered and clutched her husband's hand.

"I don't know, Naruto," he admitted.

Naruto sighed and took the cover off his ramen. His eyes fixed on the pale noodles. "I like to think that's what happened," he said as he mixed the soup up with his chopsticks. "I don't wanna think they abandoned me, but sometimes I feel like they did…"

"Naruto…" Iruka whispered, his heart breaking. Yondaime pulled his sobbing wife into his arms and shushed her.

"When the kids an' even their moms and dads look at me like they do… I think I'm not any good for anything. So maybe that's what my parents thought and so they dumped me."

"That's not true!" Kozue shouted.

"That's not true!" Iruka cried simultaneously and gripped the edges of the table, struggling to find just the right words. "No one would do that to you, besides, you were just a baby…"

The boy's lower lip quivered. "I just wish I knew, Iruka-sensei. It sucks to be alone…" A few tears patted down on the tabletop. Involuntarily, the teacher pushed his chair back and stood up. Naruto continued to look down, unable and perhaps today unwilling to put on a brave face. "It sucks."

His mentor crouched next to his chair. "Naruto," Iruka put his hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone." The boy sniffled and without hesitation launched himself at Iruka, knocking him on his ass. The teacher wrapped his arms around him and let him cry it out. Slowly, Naruto caught his breath, but still clung to Iruka's shirt. The clouds grudgingly parted and let some sunlight into the little apartment. "Hey now." Iruka patted his back reassuringly. "Your ramen's getting cold."

Naruto choked out a laugh and nodded. They ate their lunch wordlessly. When he had finished, Iruka cleaned up and invited Naruto to come out with him.

"Uh uh," Naruto grunted as he scratched his hair. "I gotta train. Wasted almost the whole day already."

Iruka grinned. "There's a good boy. You call me if you get bored," he advised, still choosing his words with ultimate care.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei."

"Any time."

-----

Well after dark Naruto dragged himself home and fell into bed with his clothes on. His chakra almost completed depleted and his body bearing a number of cuts and bruises from a rigorous session against his own shadow clones, he was asleep in moments.

Just before he dropped off to sleep, Naruto listened to the silence of his apartment. The things he contemplated that morning, which he thought he had gotten over, came back to haunt him.

This place he called home had no soul. There was no one waiting for him when the day was over, no one to wake him when it began. No smell of food waiting for him, no din of conversation or laughter like he had heard coming from other people's houses. Maybe he should get a cat, he thought.

That was crazy. He'd probably malnourish the thing to death. No. He didn't need something to take care of. He needed someone to take care of him. But did he need it? He got along all right by himself. He hadn't burned the place down or even ever locked himself out before. He didn't need it; he wanted it. He wanted 'welcome home!' and 'how was your day?' and 'time to wake up now, Sweet Heart.'

"Sweet heart," he muttered. "No one will ever call me Sweet Heart." Not even his own mother whom he had never known. Iruka, and even that jerk Sasuke had known their mothers… Naruto felt the tears come again and curled up into a ball. "Kaasan…" he whispered, just to see what it would sound like. It didn't help. He pressed the comforter to his eyes and wept like a child, all the while forgetting he was still just that: a child.

His parents stood over him. "Yusaku-san, I need to help him," Kozue whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"There's nothing the dead can do to help the living." He took a deep breath. "I've been sealed inside him all this time. I know."

Kozue looked shocked for a moment, but nodded. "I remember now. I saw it. You fought the Nine Tails and I waited for you but this man said that you were inside the baby."

"Even though I've been that close to him, I was unable to even so much as talk to him," he admitted.

"But you were sealed up, right?" she said, thinking positively. "Perhaps I _can_ do something. I have this little trick I learned in the last few years." She smiled. "I need your help though. Call to me in ten minutes so I don't get lost."

"What?" he asked as she kissed him on the cheek and turned into a wisp of smoke. "Kozue!?" he asked, alarmed, but figured out what she was up to as the smoke settled over their sleeping son. He waited nervously and watched the clock. "Ten minutes. No more."

Weeping, Uzumaki Naruto fell to dreaming.

To be continued... 


	5. Chapter Five

**Ho no Kuni Monogatari: "Kage no Naka"  
Fire Country Stories: "In the Shadows"****  
**

**by Aoi Kami Sarah**

_The following chapter contains sections from another of my fics "No One Will Ever Call Me Sweetheart"_

_For those who are wondering when the "flashback" is going to end... hang tight. One more chapter and this story is all done. Naruto will be Rokudaime in chapter 6._  
**  
**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The pond was familiar. It reminded Naruto of one in the upscale northwestern area of town, relatively close to the Uchiha Ichizoku. A steady but calm breeze gently pressed small waves that undulated across its surface. He looked up at the sky; cerulean blue with perfect, crisp white clouds ambling from left to right.

Didn't he have to be at the bridge to meet up with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and Sasuke soon? Surely yesterday was Sunday and he'd have to be there, but something in the air made the day feel so much more like a Saturday.

A lone willow tree dipped its branches into the water and under its dappled shade sat a young woman who stared out at the surface. A large sun hat obscured her face but even from a distance and not seeing her expression, Naruto could tell she was happy.

The feeling was contagious. Without even thinking about it, Naruto gravitated towards her.

"Ano… 'scuse me, Nee-san? Mind if I join ya?"

She turned her head to look up at him. The large hat framed her round, heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a pale green and her hair even paler blonde. It lilted around her like strands of silk thread in the ever-present breeze. Her skin was alabaster and her limbs were delicate. She seemed a living statue, such was her perfection. So when she spoke, Naruto almost fell over with surprise.

"Sure! It's great to have company on such a nice day!" A bold, confident voice boomed from her slight frame. She patted the ground with one of her thin, china-like hands and smiled. When she did, her eyes turned into the most adorable crescent shapes. Naruto blushed, falling instantly in love and without hesitation sat down beside her. She faced the pond again, the contended smile hanging on her lips. Naruto stared at her, unable to look away. He wanted to memorize her face. Something about her seemed fleeting, as though if he blinked she would blow away.

She must have felt the intensity of his gaze because she looked back to him, but rather than scold him for staring, she grinned, amusedly. "Do I know you?" she asked.

Naruto shuddered. "N-no! I mean I don't think so…"

"Really? You sure I don't know your family?"

"I… don't have one," he admitted.

For the first time, her features drooped. "I'm so sorry…"

"No! It's ok! I mean… It was a long time ago… I never knew them."

She bit her lip. "That's horrible. There've been so many wars, and so much loss and sadness in this village. Sometimes I wish I had never been born into a shinobi clan."

"You're a ninja?" Naruto asked tentatively, unable to imagine her giving or receiving any sort of violence.

"No." She rubbed her thin hands together. "Because my body's too weak, I can never be a ninja…" When he didn't respond she looked up. "I'm sorry! Now I've made you upset!"

"Uh? Oh no, no! I just don't know what I would do if I could never be a ninja…"

She smiled again. "Now I know why I think I know you," she said and pointed into the distance behind Naruto's shoulder. "You remind me of him."

Naruto craned his neck and looked for a person, but all he saw was the mountainside about five miles to the south and the four faces etched upon it. "What, the Hokage?" When he turned around he was blushing even redder. "I'm gonna be up there one day, you'll see!"

"You will?!" she asked, excitedly.

"You bet! Everyone will know me and look up to me!" he stood and shouted.

"Ah! That's great!" The young woman used the trunk of the willow to help herself up and got a good look at the 12 year old.

"So, Nee-chan? Which one do I remind you of? Nidaime? Please don't say Sandaime!"

"No, silly. Isn't it obvious? Yondaime!"

Naruto's chest puffed out. "Really?!"

She laughed. "Even your attitude! You sound a bit like him too."

"Ne, how do you know so much about him?"

"He's my husband!" she said proudly and beamed at him.

The world seemed to stop. The clouds no longer raced across the sky. The water didn't glisten. Naruto felt something akin to nausea and fear with a mixture of confusion and sadness sweep over him. "Oh, Nee-chan…"

"He's so amazing. Have you met him?"

"Uh… no…"

"He only just became Hokage last year but already they have the mountain carved. He's going to be the best, most famous Hokage, no the most famous kage the world has ever seen! And I don't have to worry about being a good ninja because I'm going to be the world's best wife." She brushed some dirt off of her kimono and walked to the water's edge. "I want to have children too, tens of them!" She crouched and dipped her fingers in the cool water. She patted her face lightly and took a deep breath.

'Children…' Naruto thought. Had Yondaime had any children? How long had he been Hokage before he died? He wished he had studied harder when Iruka-sensei taught his class the history of Konoha. "I was just a baby…" he whispered.

The young woman turned quickly. "What did you say?" she asked.

"Uh, never mind…" Naruto tried to think of something to say to change the subject.

"Do you think…" she started, but the words ran out of breath. The pale green eyes rolled back and her legs gave out.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto shouted and caught her in plenty of time. "You ok, Nee-chan?" Her face was so pale, he felt like he was holding a doll the size of a grown woman. Not having any idea what to do for her, Naruto started to panic. "Nee-chan, please…"

As if she heard him, the green eyes fluttered open. He offered to help her up, but she asked him to let her lay her head in his lap till the spell passed. "It's all right, I just fainted. I stood up too fast." She laughed a little. "I get so excited when I think about the future. Do you think I'll make a good mother?"

"Yeah," Naruto whispered. "The best."  
"I think so too," she smiled. "I'm a great cook!"

"You are?"

"Mmhm! You should come over for dinner some night and I'll show you! I'll make you a nice soup!" she chimed as she slowly sat up.

"Kozue!" a man's voice called from the distance. "Where are you?" A long coated, spiky haired silhouette was just visible on the horizon.

"Hai-----! Coming!" the young woman answered. "I have to go. You understand, don't you?"

Naruto nodded.

"I'll see you later, then!" Naruto shook his head. The sky was almost dark. The clouds seemed to have piled up on each other in the last few tense moments. His shoulders slumped. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but just didn't have the heart to tell her. "I'll see you right there, ne?" He turned and followed her pointing finger once more just as the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the monument to the first four Hokage.

Naruto's face brightened. "Mm!" He nodded. "I'll be the best Hokage the world has ever seen! You'll see."

The young woman named Kozue bowed and kissed him on the cheek. "I know you will, Sweet Heart. See you!" She waved. Clouds flew past. Water rippled and willow leaves swirled in a never-ending breeze.

-----

Kozue's pale hand emerged from Naruto's chest as Yondaime pulled gently. She fell into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I think it went well," she said with a smile. "We'll see if he's happier when he wakes up."

Yondaime opened his mouth to congratulate her but his eyes fell on a glowing red dot that appeared in the corner of the dimly lit room. Kozue turned to see what had disturbed him and gasped.

"It's you!"

"It's me!" Yotsuya called back. "Nice to see you too, Lady."

"Yusaku-san, that's the man who was trying to take me away!"

"I know," he said and pulled her close. "Sorry I ditched you, but you weren't in any hurry to see if I made it out, so I figured you wouldn't mind if we wandered around for a bit."

"Nah, not at all," Yotsuya said, waving the cigarette. "Now messing with the living, that's another matter."

The couple exchanged worried glances. "Did we do something wrong?" Yondaime asked.

He dragged on the cigarette. "Yes and no. You contacted the living which is bad. A more experienced individual like myself is able to converse freely with the living because I have the ability to alter the way they remember the experience. You managed to do it in such a way that the subject won't realize that he saw a ghost. That's good."

"So what happens now?" Yondaime asked.

"Good question." Naruto turned in his sleep and Yotsuya motioned for them to follow him outside. They strolled down the empty streets of Konoha. "Before I saw what you did, I would have taken you both back where you belong: you to your cage and the little woman off to the next world. But I gotta say I'm impressed…"

Kozue relaxed a little and addressed the suit. "So, who are you?"

Yotsuya stopped and bowed slightly. "Shinigami Yotsuya, third in the line of Fire Country Death Gods at your service."

"Shinigami…" she repeated and lowered her head. "I understand now. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused."

Yotsuya smiled. "You make it really hard to stay angry at you, Kozue-chan."

"You still haven't answered the question, Yotsuya," Yondaime reminded him. "What's to become of us?"

"Well, I don't think you can officially become a Kage till your contract with the Shiki is up, so I have a little business proposition for you." He twirled a strange-shaped shuriken idly on his pinky as he spoke. "You two are a good team. Yondy, since you were such a good ninja, your chakra made you a powerful spirit and Kozue-chan has become one through years of diligent spooking. You're both qualified to assist me. You work for me, I won't pass you on or send you back. You can have some more time together."

Kozue pouted. "I don't think you want me to work for you, Yotsuya-san. I'm not strong enough…"

Yotsuya stopped spinning the shuriken and handed it to her. "You're forgetting you don't have a body any more. It's all about the power of your spirit. You were a strong person on the inside when you were alive and now that you've had a decade of poltergeist activity on your resume, you're really something else. I could use your help. Whaddaya say?"

Yondaime raised a brow and smirked proudly at his wife who replied for both of them.

"We'll take it!"

-----

The next morning, the sun shone bright and warm through the pane just to the left of Naruto's head. The comforter and sheet were wrapped tightly around him. Despite the warm weather, Naruto had snored comfortably through the night.

When he woke, he sat up, rubbed his eyes and realized it was Monday. "What happened to Sunday?" he murmured and squinted into the sunlight. Across town, four sets of stone eyes watched over his village. He opened his own eyes wide, grinned, threw off the covers and charged headfirst into the new day.

Anyone who could have seen the curl at the corner of his lips, the sparkle in his cool, blue eyes would have known this boy was Uzumaki Naruto: future Hokage of Konoha.

"You'll see! I promise!" he shouted to the sky and ran out the door at top speed to beat Sakura and Sasuke to the bridge.

-----

The fact that Naruto was completely unaware of his parents' presence didn't seem to bother them. They were happy just to watch him grow. Kozue cheered her son on as he won his third Chuunin Exam match. Her pale purple kimono now bore a patch with the black-and-red flame logo pinned over her left breast. When the match was over, her smile faded as she remembered that she wasn't just a spectator today. There were sinister doings afoot in Konoha. Soon there would undoubtedly be much work to be done on the Spirit plane. Yotsuya appeared at her side.

"Not bad for a squirt," he commented with a wink as the next match began.

"Thank you," she said with a grin. "What's the status?"

"Nothing yet, but looks like Orochimaru's gonna make his move soon. We don't know where he is, but he's close. There's gonna be a lotta cleanup for us. You sure you're up for this?"

Kozue nodded as her husband appeared behind her. He wore the same flame patch on his flack-jacket. His white-and-red overcoat had been forsaken to avoid detection by the First and Second Hokages. If they were to find Yondaime outside of Naruto they would most likely send him back and then send Kozue to the next life. "We're ready to help however we can," he said and put a hand on her shoulder.

They didn't have long to wait. In the middle of the next match between the remaining Uchiha child and a Genin from the Hidden Sand smoke bombs exploded in the Hokage's skybox. Most of the audience slumped in their seats.

"Oh no!" Kozue cried. "All those people can't be dead!"

"No, it's Genjutsu," Yondaime assured her.

Yotsuya squinted. "It's begun. There's fighting on the outskirts. The enemy's movin' in." He turned to his troops. "Ko-chan, you take the eastern gate. There's som'n' big happening over there. Be careful not to get too overwhelmed. You must only escort one soul at a time, but try not to leave too many unattended. If you need help call for backup and we'll come runnin'."

"I'll do my best!" she said and saluted him, becoming a vapor and speeding off for the east end of town.

"Yondy, you stay close to me just incase Orochimaru does what I think he might do."

"What would that be?" he asked, raising a brow.

"You know very well he's good at that forbidden Kinjutsu shit. Lots of those Jutsu, _like the Shiki Fuujin,_" he growled, pointing with his cigarette at Yondaime for emphasis, "break the laws of the Spirit World and mess things up real good. That's why they're _forbidden_. I'm sure if he's gonna fight someone as powerful as the Third he's going to pull out all the stops."

Yondaime nodded towards the rooftop. "Looks like that is indeed the case."

"Let's get up there," Yotsuya said, crushing the butt under his foot. A strange sound like radio static coming from his subordinate made him spin around. "What the…?"

"Yostu…!" Yondaime tried to call out. He tried to grab the Shinigami's lapels but his hands were disintegrating.

"Shit!" Yotsuya vanished and reappeared on the rooftop next to Sandaime. Before him, Orochimaru was performing Kinjutsu and the Third was doing his best to stop him.

"One!" the missing-nin shouted and a coffin marked 'sho' burst through the roof. What looked like a blue comet that only Yotsuya could see streaked through the bright, sunny sky and slammed into the coffin.

Yotsuya made hand seals of his own. "Damn it! Edo Tensei!? You sick fuck!"

"Two!" Orochimaru shouted, a coffin marked 'ni' arose and another light swooped into it. Sandaime's hands came together as he tried to think of a jutsu to stop the Edo Tensei with, but even if he could have thought of something, he would have been too late. Yotsuya snarled, grasped his wrist and pointed his outstretched hand in Orochimaru's direction. "Rei Ami!" he called. "Soul Catcher!"

"Three!" Nothing (that any of the living present could see) happened. A blue streak shot towards Orochimaru, but swerved into Yotsuya's palm. Sandaime was obviously relieved, but ready for whatever came next.

"You're lucky as hell, Old Man," Yotsuya spat and looked at the glowing cue-ball in his hand. "You too, Yondy," he said and dropped the ball. It cracked open and Yondaime's soul emerged, unharmed.

"What the hell's going on?" he asked.

Yotsuya lit a cigarette. "You're about to meet the Kage.

When the giant, three-headed snake appeared, Kozue stood and stared at it for a moment. Yotsuya had taught her much about the spirit plane, but there were still things in the realm of the living that amazed her. "If only it were a demon!" she said through her gritted teeth. "A demon, I could do something about!" She walked slowly towards it. It wasn't long before the first nin fell. His soul stood up and looked around. When his eyes fell on the blond woman his shoulders relaxed a little.

"Will everything be all right?" the Leaf-nin asked.

"I have faith in Konoha," she replied vaguely with a sad smile and stretched out her hand. When the nin took it, he disappeared. She stepped around his body and proceeded to the next.

Atop the arena, Sandaime fought with Orochimaru. On the very top of the roof Yondaime stood and watched the action. Yotsuya sat to his left and chain-smoked.

"Nidaime-sama! Shodaime-sama! Please stop!" Yondaime shouted vainly as they fought against Sandaime. "Yotsuya, why can't the Kage hear me?"

"They're technically living right now. Most of the living can't see or hear the dead."

"What is that terrible Kinjutsu he used?"

"Kuchiyose Edo Tensei: the summoning of the dead. Nasty jutsu performed in three steps. Step one: kill a guy. Step two, select the soul you want to summon. Step three, use the fresh corpse to hold the soul. This can last as long as the corpse holds out. Trick is to kill the container 24 hours prior to summoning otherwise they start to smell like a son-bitch."

Yondaime stared at him, unblinking, mouth open.

"What?" Yotsuya asked, lighting his fifth cigarette.

"How do you know all that in such… detail?"

Yotsuya stood and stretched. "I wasn't always a Shinigami," he said and took a long drag. Yondaime raised a brow, but didn't ask him any more questions. "I knew when Orochimaru had two of his Genin killed this morning that something was fishy, but I never woulda guessed this mess. The Kage were so sure that Sandaime was going to act before…" The cigarette between his lips drooped and his eyes widened.

"Before…?" Yondaime asked, but followed his eyes. They watched in horror as the Third Hokage started performing a series of seals.

-Mi - I - Hitsuji -

"Sandaime-sama! NO!!!" Yondaime shouted.

- U - Inu - Ne -

"Oh fuck me…" Yotsuya groaned.

- Tori - Uma - Mi -

Behind Sandaime, the Shiki Fuujin emerged; the old man's soul already bound in the first half of the contract. Suddenly, Shodaime cast a strong Genjutsu turning the area blacker than night. Yondaime and Yotsuya, still able to see what was going on, watched, helplessly.

Yondaime grabbed Yotsuya by the arm. "Do something!"

"There's nothing I can do. If we interrupt this jutsu the affects to the Spirit World would be so catastrophic no one would be able to fix them."

"There's got to be…"

"Listen, if we step in-between the Shiki and his contract, he'll thirst for souls. He'll start with the dead which is fine and dandy and makes my job easier, but pretty soon he'll run out of them and head for the living. There's virtually no way to stop him without causing a huge rift in the Spiritual order. You've got to let it go."

"To me…" Sandaime said to Orochimaru as he fought the two re-animated Hokage. "Konoha isn't just an organization…"

Yondaime grit his teeth and listened carefully.

"Every year, many shinobi are born and raised in Konoha. They live and fight to protect this village that is precious to them, to the death. Even if we aren't blood related, to me, the people of this village are most important, most precious family!"

Kozue had passed dozens of souls already and there were dozens falling all the while. It made no difference to her which side they were on, but a certain relief came when she realized that more and more of them were the enemy. She approached one such Sand-nin's body and crouched at his side. His soul sat up and looked down at his heavily wounded body. "I'm a mess…"

"Yes, you are," she said plainly.

"Is my time up?"

Kozue pursed her lips in thought. The nin's wounds weren't too great, but the shock had knocked him unconscious, allowing his soul to leave his body. The huge snake was still crushing everything in sight. Kozue opened her mouth to make her decision when an enormous toad appeared out of nowhere. "Oh, no, not another one!" she wailed. Then the toad started attacking the snake. "Ah! Jiyraiya-sama!" she cheered, recognizing the white-haired man on the toad's back. Kozue turned her attention back to the nin. "If you can hang in there for another hour or so, I think you'll make it. It's up to you."

He blushed at her warm smile. "I… I'd like to live."

"Then lie down and sit tight," she advised. He did just that and she stood up to stretch. In the distance, she saw the darkness from Shodaime's Genjutsu and furrowed her brows. "Something's not right…" she muttered and flew towards the scene.

* * *

**To be concluded... **


	6. Chapter 6

**Honokuni Monogatari - "Fire Country Stories"**

**Kage no Naka - "In the Shadows"**

By Aoikami Sarah

**CHAPTER SIX**

Yondaime clenched his fists in rage. "There will be a new Hokage who will inherit my will!" Sandaime shouted at Orochimaru. "And become the pillar that supports the house of the leaf!" He lowered his head and his thoughts were as clear to the Shinigami and his subordinate as if he were speaking aloud. 'Isn't that right, Yondaime?'

Kozue flew around the giant cube-shaped shield that protected Orochimaru and Sandaime from outside interference. "Yusaku-san? Yotsuya-san? Where are you?" She hovered just outside it, afraid to enter. Slowly, she reached her delicate toe out and touched it. When it wasn't cold or hot and didn't bite her, she giggled a little at herself and entered.

"Take this!" Sandaime growled. "Fuuin Jutsu - Shiki Fuujin!"

Kozue stopped in mid-air and stared at the Fuuin Shiki. "That thing again… It can't be!"

"Kozue!" Yondaime called out to her.

"Yusaku-san! Yotsuya-san, what's going on?"

"Watch carefully, Ko-chan. It's not very often you get to see something this incredibly stupid. Oh wait…" he said sarcastically and stared at Yondaime.

"You've got to admit," Yondaime said, ignoring him. "It's just about the only thing he could use with 100 guaranteed success against Orochimaru."

"He could have oh, I don't know… taken care of Orochimaru as soon as he knew he was in Konoha!" Yotsuya shouted. "And _we'll see_ about 100 success."

"But the enemy has no defense against the Shiki, you even told me that!"

"Not if the enemy is so well versed in Kinjutsu. People like Orochimaru are pretty rare, but there is a chance he could make it out of this with his life."

"Yotsuya-san." Kozue fidgeted as she watched the Shiki hover menacingly. "Will Sandaime-sama seal all three of the attackers up since he's using Kage Bunshin?"

"If he's successful, yeah. But since he's sealing into himself, the Shiki will take all of them at once, making things a little complicated. The Spirit World will be out all three Kage who aren't _already_ sealed up."

"What happens to them if the caster dies?" she asked innocently.

"They're locked in eternal struggle for eternity," Yondaime answered.

"_That_ is why the living should never touch shit like this," he said rolling his eyes. "_That's not what happens._ Sure, the jutsu takes the lives of both the caster and the enemy, but once they're dead, they're dead. He passes them on. They die. The end. Next level. Buh-bye."

Kozue blinked. "Then what?"

Yotsuya raised a brow. "Not even we are allowed to know that, Ko-chan."

They watched as Sandaime captured Shodaime and Nidaime in turn. Yondaime took Kozue into his arms and pressed her head against his chest. "Don't look, Kozue."

"I've seen this already. It doesn't disturb me," she lied and clutched his jacket. It seemed like something very important was going on, but her head was swimming with the memory of seeing her husband taken up by the Shiki all those years ago. She forgot about her responsibilities and just concentrated on him as hard as she could. He was there for her, and that was all that mattered.

Soon, it was over. Orochimaru was debilitated, but escaped with his life. Sandaime was dead. Nidaime, Shodaime, Sandaime and Orochimaru's ability to form Jutsu were sealed up.

"Hold it right there!" Yotsuya shouted. Kozue looked up, brought out of her daze by his urgency. Yotsuya was standing in front of the Fuuin Shiki with his arms folded. "As a duly appointed representative of Enma Daioh, Magistrate of the border between this world and the Lands Afterward, I, Honokuni Shinigami Yotsuya command you to hold your position!" To their amazement, the Shiki did just that. "I must have a word with the bound parties. Permit me five minutes."

The Shiki growled, but obliged and three men and a pair of disembodied arms appeared on the roof in front it. Yondaime and Kozue were surprised to see Yotsuya kneel before them. "Hokage-sama…" he addressed all three of them. "You must know why I've intervened…"

"Indeed," Shodaime nodded. "It would seem the Fire Country will be without a Kage…"

"I'm so sorry," Sandaime, who appeared a man of no more than thirty, lowered his head. "I did not consider the consequences my action would have on the Spirit World. I was thinking only of Konoha and for that I apologize."

"Saru," his sensei, the second Hokage put his hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. You did what you thought was best. That is all any of us can do."

"If I may interrupt, Hokage-sama," Yotsuya said, standing up. "I think I have a solution." He gestured in the direction of Yondaime and Kozue who were still standing on the very top of the roof.

"Yusaku!" Sandaime gasped. "What are you…? Is Naruto all right!"

"He's fine," Nidaime said, folding his arms. "The Shinigami has had Yondaime and his wife in his employ for the last six months."

"Eep." Yotsuya straightened his tie. "You see, the thing with that is…"

Yondaime floated down to them, Kozue not far behind. "It's my fault, Hokage-sama. If I hadn't…"

Shodaime waved. "We would have done something about it if it were a problem. Besides, as Yotsuya is about to point out, his indiscretion has saved us."

"Yeah, funny how that worked out." He turned to his subordinate. "Yondy. Congratulations. You're gonna get to be a Kage."

"But…" Sandaime asked. "What about the boy?"

"If Yondaime's soul is replaced by one of equal strength, the Shiki won't know the difference. Especially in this situation," Shodaime said, hooking a finger at the intimidating Shiki behind them. "We wouldn't be able to fool this one, but Yotsuya should be able to take Yondaime's place in the contract."

"Yotsuya-san?" Kozue asked, finally stepping in front of her husband. "But that would mean through the laws of the fuuin contract, you'd get passed on when our son dies, wouldn't it?"

"Don't worry, Kozue, someone else will take my place as Shinigami," he said without a smirk or sly comment.

"That's not what I meant! Yotsuya-san, you'll die!"

The Shinigami smiled and stepped towards her. He glanced to Yondaime before wrapping his arms around her. "You are the sweetest thing I have ever known. Thank you for coming into my life."

"Yotsuya-san…"

"Hey, do me a favor?" he asked, taking her by the shoulders.

Kozue blinked back tears. "You saved me and gave my husband back to me. Anything."

"Help him out. Be the fourth Fire Country Shinigami."

Kozue looked to her husband who nodded slightly. She then nodded to the Shinigami and he pressed his forehead to hers. A warmth spread through her as his knowledge and powers were transferred. Her kimono was replaced with a smart-looking black women's suit complete with Fire Country Spirit World insignia arm band. When he pulled back, Yotsuya was still wearing his suit, but it was torn in a few places where it no longer fit. His body was more muscular than before, his skin was blue and horns sprouted from his head and fangs from his mouth. "This is my true form. I'm sorry you had to see it."

"You were an Oni…" Yondaime realized what Yotsuya had almost told him just a while ago.

"I'm tired. Five hundred years of doing the same thing can get to be drag," he said with a slight chuckle. "Now, Kozue, you should know what to do. Send this scary Shiki bastard on his way."

Yondaime said goodbye to his predecessors and Kozue performed her first task as Shinigami. "As a duly appointed representative of Enma Daioh, Magistrate of the border between this world and the Lands Afterward, I, Honokuni Shinigami Kozue permit you to proceed!" The three men and Orochimaru's arms were sucked back inside the Shiki and it disappeared.

Yotsuya beamed with pride. "Ok, now you have to take me to the kid. Then you can take Yondy to meet with Enma Daioh. He'll get sworn in up there. Enma's not going to be too happy with me, but don't let him scare you. He's all bark. Get to know him and his a big friggin' teddy bear."

She tried very hard not to cry again. "Ok!" she nodded and they headed out to look for Naruto. It was difficult to locate him, but when they did, he was conveniently unconscious. Kozue was able to enter the boy's soul and swap the temporary soul with Yotsuya.

"See ya later," he said with a wink.

"Yes," she said simply and ran away. When she emerged she fell against Yondaime's chest and cried.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked, protectively.

"After a lifetime of being useless, I finally have something I can do for Konoha. I'm so ready for this." She reached out her hand. He hesitated to take it. She laughed. "Come on, silly. I won't pass you. I can turn it on and off."

"How do you know this already?"

"I don't know. I guess when Yotsuya-san touched my forehead he told me everything. I just know."

Yondaime took her hand and smiled. "Looks like we're going to be together for a long time."

She squeezed his hand, looked down at Naruto who was being carried into Konoha hospital, having just defeated Gaara. "We get to watch our son grow."

"One day, I'm sure he'll stand at our side as Kage," Yondaime whispered. "I'm sure of it."

**.X.**

Uzumaki Naruto awoke as the sun inched its way into his eye. The remnants of what he imagined to be a particularly vivid dream faded with the light. He remembered Yondaime giving him a pep talk and a woman wearing a suit at his side whom he was sure he'd met before. He thought to write the dream down, but as he reached over to get a piece of paper off of the nightstand, Hinata's milky eyes fluttered open.

"Morning," she drawled and laced her arms around him.

He grinned a foxy grin and returned her kiss. "Morning," he said, and promptly forgot all about the dream.

Only a handpicked group of important shinobi was allowed to witness and judge Naruto's oral exam later that week. Among them were his old teachers Iruka and Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's Surgeon General Shizune, head of Interior Security Morino Ibiki, the council members Koharu and Homura and the heads of the great Konoha families. Among them were Sakai Matsumune (brother to Kozue), and Hyuuga Hiashi.

Naruto wore the standard Konoha green and blue with no other piece of flair to set him apart from any other nin except a certain necklace. Naruto swallowed deep, tucked the necklace into his shirt and stepped into the middle of the room. The elders were all seated around him.

"I'm glad you could make it," he began. "If you are all comfortable, I will now begin my oral presentation…"

A few hours later Hinata sat outside on the administration building steps. She tapped her foot nervously and stared at her clenched hands. "Oh, Naruto…" she worried aloud.

"He'll be fine," a gruff, scratchy voice startled her. She turned to see the speaker and looked up at his silhouette, the noonday sun behind him making her squint. "There's nothing that bastard can't do. You should know that." Slowly, he plodded down the steps past her. Hinata's blood ran cold as she saw the insignia on the back of his shirt. "But tell that dead-last loser I said good-luck anyway," he said without turning around. "Not that he needs it."

He hadn't made a public appearance in years. After he came home, no one wanted to see him. No one would acknowledge him. He had betrayed Konoha and as far as the people were concerned, even if he had been pardoned, he didn't exist. The only one who stuck up for him was Naruto. He took him in, got him a position on Anbu where no one knew his identity and gave him a second chance. Hinata watched him go, unable to speak; amazed that he had shown himself in broad daylight and touched that Naruto meant that much to him.

"Hina-chan!" Naruto called as he threw the huge doors open. She jumped up and turned to him. He bounded down the steps to meet her. "Hinata, you should have seen it!"

"Ah! Did you pass?"

"Did I?" he laughed. "Even your _dad_ passed me!"

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" She turned back to look down the steps. "Oh, he's gone…" she said sadly.

"Who is?"

"Someone who came to wish you luck," she said and leaned close to him to whisper the name in his ear.

"No way!" Naruto looked in the direction he had left, but there wasn't a trace of him. Naruto's shoulders relaxed and he grinned wide. "Thanks, Sasuke."

**.X.**

Slightly hung over from a night of serious drinking with Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba and Yamanaka Ino amongst others, Naruto stepped out into the bright sunshine and rubbed his throbbing temples. Hinata followed and giggled at his ill-gotten discomfort.

"So the next test is at 10 tomorrow?" she asked, zipping up her flack jacket.

"Yeah," he answered. "Good thing, too. I gotta get rid of this headache."

"Drink lots of fluids," she advised, gave him a kiss and started off towards the administration building. "I'm sorry I've got a mission, but I know you'll do just fine!" she said with a wave and a smile.

"I'll miss you, Hina-chan!" Naruto called after her and waved back. He put his thumbs through his backpack and wandered off in the opposite direction.

When Kakashi awoke that morning, he had a strange craving. He rummaged through his bachelor's pantry and not finding anything that screamed out to him, he went to the store. When that didn't inspire, he proceeded to the library.

The middle-aged librarian pushed her glasses up her nose and flipped through a stack of cards. "I'm sorry, sir. That scroll has been checked out."

"I see, and it's out of print…" Kakashi said with mild disappointment. "When is it due back in?"

"Well, not for another three days."

"Thank you," he said and turned to walk away.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted in greeting as he saw his teacher.

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"Sorry, Lady," the young man apologized. "Hey, Sensei, long time no see!" he tried to whisper.

"Oh, Naruto," Kakashi replied, his eye curving into a smile. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah. Can you believe it?"

"I certainly can," Kakashi said and put his hand on his shoulder. "Well, I'll see you around."

Naruto was a little surprised at the brevity of their meeting, but nodded, shook his sensei's hand and went to the checkout counter. "That was weird," he muttered to himself as he took his backpack off and started pulling the scrolls out of it. "Seemed like he didn't want to talk to me…"

"Oh! Mr. Hatake!" the librarian shouted and was shushed by some of her coworkers. Kakashi was almost out the door. "That scroll you wanted, it's come in!"

Naruto eyed him as he walked back to the desk. "The library actually carries something _you'd_ want to read?" he asked skeptically. The librarian handed _'Fire Country's Best Soups'_ to Kakashi. Naruto gawked and pointed at him. "That!"

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"Sorry," they said in unison.

"That weird cookbook got mixed in with my study materials," Naruto explained as Kakashi took the scroll and stared hard at it. "I had to have Hinata go back and get me the Yondaime scroll. I don't have a clue how the two could have gotten mixed up." Naruto looked to his sensei. Even from the other side of the mask, he could tell that his mouth was open. "Something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

He blinked. "No. That _is_ weird. You know, Naruto…" He shook his head a little, changing his mind. "You must have a lot of work ahead of you this week."

"Not really, the physical test is tomorrow morning. Then there's the ceremony." He inched closer and whispered with a wink, "which is gonna be announced for next Sunday."

"Ah," Kakashi took Kozue's Soup scroll and made sure his hand was covering her name. "Tell you what. When all the craziness settles down for you, we should get together."

"We totally will!" Naruto said cheerfully. Kakashi turned and left without saying good-bye.

He wandered down Konoha's main street, took a left and was soon headed into the old residential district. The sun shone down on another perfect day in stark contrast to the storm brewing in the Jounin's heart. He slowed as the site where the house used to be came into view. "Man," he whispered, hung his head, turned and left.

Once again, memories of the past brought Kakashi an unshakeable case of insomnia. Just before he reached for the PM painkillers he used occasionally when returning from a strenuous mission, he looked in the mirror at stared at his face.

Where his mask and hitai-ate normally covered it, the skin was paler and more youthful in contrast to the area around his right eye. He stretched some of the skin out with his finger and sighed as it fell back into wrinkles when he released it. "I'm getting old," he groaned.

At 41, Kakashi was old for a Ninja, but young for a man. "Don't think I'm going anywhere soon…" he mumbled and turned off the bathroom light. He flopped down on his bed and glanced over at the Soup scroll on the bed stand. Lifting his arm over his head, he pulled an envelope out from in between volumes one and two of _"Come Come Paradise_". The name Uzumaki Naruto was printed in kana on the front.

"Should I have told him when he was 18?" he asked himself. "What if I don't die for another decade or so? Shouldn't he know? Or is it something he shouldn't know? Yusaku-sensei never said I should ever tell the boy himself…" He slapped the letter down on top of the Soup scroll and pouted at it. "Yusaku-sensei, Kozue-san… what should I do?"

"Do whatever you like, it's your secret."

"No it's not it's…" Kakashi began then jumped to his feet, realizing that the voice wasn't his own inside his head. He took a step back and bumped into a picture frame that fell to the ground. Kakashi caught it with his foot, but didn't take his eyes (both of them) off of the intruders.

"Watch what you're doing with that precious picture, Kakashi."

He glanced down feverishly and grabbed the photo of his Genin team. The man in the photograph smiled at him from across the room. They were definitely there, but he could see the door behind them through their translucent bodies. "Se... Se… Sensei? Kozue-san?"

Kozue smiled and tilted her head to the side. "It's alright, Kakashi. Yes, we are really here. No, we're not alive."

Kakashi's legs gave out and he sat down hard on his bed. "What are you…?" his eyes traveled over their unusual clothes. Yondaime wore what looked like traditional court robes with long sleeves and billowing pants. The front of his over-shirt was embroidered with a black and red flame insignia. Kozue wore her suit with the same symbol on an armband.

"We came to see you because you wanted to see us."

"You're ghosts?" he asked, worried.

"Not per se," Yondaime picked at his robes. "We're not at liberty to discuss it, suffice to say that these are our work clothes."

"Are you alright?" he asked, still leaning back apprehensively.

Kozue put her hand to her mouth. "Oh! I'm so sorry! When I was a poltergeist I must have scared the pants off of you! Yusaku-san rescued me. I'm alright now."

There was noticeable relief on Kakashi's face. His shoulders relaxed. "I… I really miss you guys."

"We miss you too, Kakashi-kun," Kozue said with a smile.

"You called to us to ask us a question, right Kakashi?"

"Oh, yeah, right." He stood up, opened the letter and held it out for his sensei to see. "I wrote this."

Yondaime looked it over. "Sounds fine."

"Should I give it to him after he becomes Hokage?"

Yondaime looked to his wife. "I think that would be fine," she answered. "That way he doesn't have to stress out before the big day. I don't know how he's going to take the news. He's a pretty strong person, but we don't know what he thinks of us, really."

"When you do," Yondaime added. "Please talk to him. Tell him anything he wants to know. Don't think you're betraying any sort of trust."

"Thank you, I'll do that," Kakashi whispered. "I miss you guys, so very, very much."

Kozue looked to her husband. "May I, Hokage-sama?" Yondaime made a face, but nodded. Kozue put her hands together. "I'm going to give you something special, Kakashi-kun, but you've got to promise to give one to our son, too."

"Anything, Kozue-san."

She formed three seals Kakashi had never seen before. "Reiton, Kotai no Jutsu!" she called and her form grew opaque. Her suit became the pale lavender kimono he was familiar with and her hair loosed from the tight bun she wore. In a matter of moments, Sakai Kozue was actually standing in Kakashi's room. She stretched out her arms and he didn't hesitate to accept her embrace. Kakashi tried valiantly but couldn't hold back the tears as he hugged the only woman closest to actual family he had ever known.

"You know," she said softly. "All that time, I never knew until you opened your letter…"

"My letter? You read _my_ letter?"

"Over your shoulder," she said, tears coming to her own eyes. "You're my cousin Tsunade's son. We were family all along!" She let him sob into her shoulder until she could no longer hold the Jutsu and lost her solidity. "Give our son a hug from us."

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked them.

"Of course," Yondaime said with a soft smile. "We're watching over all of Konoha. Thank you for watching over Naruto."

And in a breath, they were gone. Kakashi dropped onto his bed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the last ten minutes seemed like a fading dream, but the letter in his hand reminded him of his purpose and Kozue's hug filled him with a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.

_ Reiton, Kotai no Jutsu Spirit-type, Solidity Technique_

_To be concluded…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Honokuni Monogatari - "Fire Country Stories"**

**Kage no Naka - "In the Shadows"**

By Aoikami Sarah

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Two weeks later, Kakashi strolled down Konoha's main street. Decorations hung between all the telephone poles, celebrating the accession of the new Hokage. Despite the struggle Naruto had as a child, Konoha was completely taken with him and nightly parties were still being held in his honor two days after the ceremony. Dusk had just fallen but everywhere red lights on strings illuminated the streets with a fire-like glow. Joyous shouts could be heard from every restaurant and bar he passed as toasts went up.

"To Rokudaime and to Konoha!"

"Hooray!"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and his thoughts drifted once again to his students. Naruto had achieved his goal: he had become Hokage. Sakura had achieved her goal: she had found a purpose in the medical field. Sasuke had achieved his goal: becoming strong enough to kill his brother. Kakashi would never forget that night. He had run in the pouring rain to the hospital where Sakura was already tending to Sasuke's wounds. Naruto sat outside his room, slouched in his chair, exhausted from carrying him back. "He did it," was all Naruto had said. Kakashi had hardly spoken a word to any of them in three years.

As he made his way to his apartment, Kakashi watched the revelers. A couple coming towards him in the dim light could have been Sakura and Sasuke by their heights and her pink hair glowing in silhouette. When they stopped just a few feet before him, he stared more directly at them.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.

Without a doubt, standing in the eerie red glow of the red string-lights and the green glow of a neon bar sign were Haruno Sakura and more unbelievably, Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke's single coal-black eye widened slightly; the left one lost in the fight against his brother three years ago. A diagonal scar crossed the closed lid.

"Ah, minna, long time no see," he greeted them in the classic cool Kakashi manner but inside he was nauseous.

"Aa," Sasuke replied, his eye not leaving his sensei's.

"Pretty great about Naruto, ne?" Sakura piped, trying but failing to hide her own nervousness.

"Yeah. I'm actually going to see him tomorrow."

"Oh! Great!" Sakura chimed, clutching her hands together. "He must be really busy. Will you tell him we said 'hi'?"

"Sure," he said with a closed-eye grin, allowing Sasuke to look away. "Well, have a good night." Kakashi bowed and continued on his way. When he was a few blocks from them he let out a long sigh. "Well, well," he mused quietly. "It seems that things are on the mend if those two were out together in public. This old man shouldn't worry so much."

**.X.**

It was always busy around the Hokage's office, but inside the inner sanctum was peaceful and quiet. Kakashi was shown in and stared at the young man seated on the floor in front of him. His official hat hid his face as he looked down at the Hokage's crystal ball. His spiky, yellow hair stuck out from underneath. Kakashi imagined that he could very well lift his head and be either the 6th or the 4th Hokage. Naruto's shoulders convulsed with a quiet giggle suddenly. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Ah!" Naruto suddenly looked up, dispelling whatever it was he was looking at in the crystal ball. "Kakashi-sensei! It's not what it looks like!"

"Then it definitely is…" he mumbled. "If it's any consolation to me or to you, I'm almost certain Sandaime-sama abused his position a little that way as well."

Naruto's face reddened. "I wasn't…!"  
Kakashi waved, showing he neither cared nor would he report that the Hokage was a closet pervert. "I'm glad that you had a moment for me, Hokage-sama."

Naruto took his hat off. "Please, Sensei. In this sort of situation you don't hafta call me that."

"Alright, Naruto. I came here today to tell you a couple of secrets." He sat down across from him and folded his arms. "One of these secrets mustn't leave this room. The other you may do with what you will because it's yours, not mine."

"Mine?" Naruto asked, curious. His brows came together. "You have my word."

Kakashi nodded in thanks. "First I'll tell you a story. When I was born, I was also put into the Plan…"

"You're an orphan?"

"Yes. My parents were unprepared to care for me. My father entrusted my future to his student, should I survive. My father wrote a letter and gave it to this secret-keeper when I was still very young. It was not to be given to me until I turned 18. Unfortunately, that letter came into my hands when the secret-keeper died. I was only 12. I didn't read it till much later. When I did, I learned that my parents were none other than Tsunade and Jiraiya." Kakashi watched Naruto's face carefully.

"No shit…" he said, totally wrapped up in the story. "That's incredible!"

"It gets better." Kakashi took a deep breath and continued. "Jiraiya's student was my secret-keeper…"

"Ah! Yondaime!"

"Indeed. That is the secret I want you to know, but I want you to keep. I will now give you yours. When my sensei, the 4th told me that he had a letter for me, it was the night you were born. He was busy sealing the Nine Tails. I was there. His body was so battered, he wasn't sure it would hold out so he bid me go to the hospital and steal a baby for him to use as a container to guarantee the sealing method with 100 success. He then told me to tell Sandaime that he wished you to be known as a hero but that no one should speak of this incident to their children so that you might have a chance to grow up without prejudice. He also made me swear that no one would know your heritage." Kakashi paused and drew another breath. His nausea was returning as he approached the point of his visit. He had no idea how Naruto would take this, but he swallowed and hoped for the best.

"But…" Naruto's eyes were wide, unblinking. He looked like he was watching a movie and didn't want to miss a second of the thrilling conclusion. "What about my parents…? Was I in the plan at that point? Sandaime told me that I was sealed as a newborn…"

"Your mother died in childbirth that night. Your father died fighting the Nine Tails."

Naruto clutched the fabric of his pants on his knees. "I've always wondered… did they want me?"

"I can tell you with absolute certainty that they wanted you. I saw the room that would have been your nursery. The house doesn't exist anymore, sadly, but it was blue with stars and moons…"

"What?" Naruto asked, breathlessly.

"Your father and mother were like… no. They _were_ family to me. Your mother's name was Sakai Kozue and you father's name was Yusaku… also know as Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto stared at the table between them and the darkened crystal ball that sat on it. His gaze slowly lifted and fixed on the wall to his right. The portraits of the first five Hokage hung in simple frames in a row. Naruto smiled. "I knew it…" he whispered. "Somehow, I knew it."

"You know what's funny…" Kakashi stood and walked slowly to the portraits. Naruto followed. "Shodaime and Nidaime were brothers. Sandaime, well, he was just the Second's student. But Yondaime, he was married to Sakai Kozue, who's mother's father was the First's son. And as you well know, Godaime is the granddaughter of the First. She and Kozue were cousins." Kakashi turned to Naruto. "You're related to four out of five of the last Hokage." He walked to the door. Their meeting time was up and Naruto would soon have much to do, as usual. "If you ever want to know more, I spent seven years with them. Don't hesitate to ask." He opened the door. "I know they'd be proud of you, Naruto."

"Kaka'i-sensei…" Naruto muttered, tears glimmering in his eyes.

Kakashi straightened up and walked back towards him. "I almost forgot. She'd have killed me if I didn't do this…" Kakashi stretched out his arms and gave a very surprised Naruto a tight, brief hug. "That's from Kozue-san."

The image of the girl by the pond, flaxen hair wafting on the breeze blew through his mind and he gasped. "Thank you," he whispered as Kakashi showed himself out. Naruto was left in silence for a moment. His father's portrait loomed over him. He examined it more closely. He wondered what the man looked like when he smiled. 'I'm gonna make you so proud…' he thought.

"Hellooo?" a voice to his left startled him. "You spacin' out, kiddo?"

"Tsunade Baa-chan! You scared the crap outta me!"

The fifth Hokage, now retired but still working as a medic nin at Konoha's hospital, leaned in the doorframe. "Che, some ninja you are!" she chided.

He laughed and smiled at her. 'She's my cousin,' he thought. 'I have cousins… I have a family!'

"You look like you been smokin' something good…" she said with a grin.

"Just had a nice chat with my sensei is all."

"That's good," she smiled. "I was just passin' through, checkin' up on ya, you know."

Naruto smiled that closed-eye smile so like his mother's that endeared him to just about everyone he met. "I'm doin' great. This is what I've always wanted. No matter how hard it is, how long the hours, how great the responsibility, this is what I was born to do. I'm absolutely sure of it now."

Tsunade blinked a few times, astounded. Although he was dead serious, Naruto wore a Buddha smile. She smiled back, infected by it. "That you were, kiddo. That you were."

**END**


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